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A28 u.s. news
Dialuna 11 aPRil 2022

Police official on leave amid probe over Ronald Greene death

tration in a hearing Thursday, tell- structed justice to protect the officers
ing the panel that the internal probe from prosecution. One supervisor
into Cain’s phone would take several recently told the legislative commit-
more weeks to complete, and that in- tee that his bosses instructed him not
vestigators have yet to interview Cain to give prosecutors the body-camera
because “we want to interview every- footage of Greene’s arrest.
body else in that process first to make
sure we get as much information as Probes have also expanded into a
possible.” string of other state police beatings
of mostly Black motorists. An AP in-
Magee questioned why it has to be vestigation last year found Greene’s
so complicated, saying it should boil was among at least a dozen cases over
down to simple questions: “What’s the past decade in which state police
on the phone and why’d you do it?” troopers or their bosses ignored or
concealed evidence of beatings, de-
“I do believe in due process, but I do flected blame and impeded efforts to
believe that he should be on adminis- root out misconduct.
trative leave,” said Rep. Denise Mar-
(AP) — Under increasing pres- last year instead showed white troop- celle, a Baton Rouge Democrat. Union Parish District Attorney John
sure from lawmakers, the head ers stunning, punching and drag- Belton told the legislative committee
of the Louisiana State Police put ging Greene as he wailed, “I’m your State police have acknowledged that Thursday that U.S. Justice Depart-
his second-in-command on leave brother! I’m scared! I’m scared!” the department also “sanitized” the ment prosecutors have dropped their
Friday while he faces an internal cellphone of the former head of the request for him to hold off on a state
probe into the erasing of his cell- Cain’s refusal to answer questions agency, Col. Kevin Reeves, after he prosecution until the federal investi-
phone data amid the investiga- about the wiping and the fact that he abruptly retired in 2020 amid AP’s gation is complete. He says he is now
tion into the deadly 2019 arrest of was staying on the job amid the probe initial reporting on Greene’s death. “moving swiftly” to empanel a special
Black motorist Ronald Greene. frustrated and angered members of a The agency said it did the same to the grand jury to pursue possible state
bipartisan legislative committee that phone of another former police com- charges in the Greene case.
Superintendent Col. Lamar Davis has been conducting hearings into mander, Mike Noel, who resigned
released a statement saying he placed the state’s response to Greene’s death from a regulatory post last year as he The legislative committee was con-
Lt. Col. Doug Cain on paid adminis- and whether there was a cover-up. was set to be questioned about the vened in February after an AP report
trative leave “to eliminate any ques- case by lawmakers. Police have said showed Gov. John Bel Edwards was
tions into the integrity of the inves- “This is an attempt to not be transpar- such erasures are policy. informed within hours that troop-
tigation.” ent. ... If we trusted you we wouldn’t ers arresting Greene had engaged in
be here right now,” state Rep. Tanner Nearly three years after Greene’s May a “violent, lengthy struggle.” Yet the
Cain was among three top state po- Magee, the Republican chairman of 10, 2019, death along a rural roadside Democrat stayed mostly silent on
lice officials who had their cellphones the committee, told Cain in a hearing in northeast Louisiana, no one has the case for two years as state troop-
“sanitized” amid the ongoing probes last month. been criminally charged. ers told Greene’s family and wrote in
into Greene’s death, which troop- reports that he died as the result of a
ers initially blamed on a car crash at “I have nothing to hide,” Cain said. “I A federal civil rights investigation car crash. He has since come to de-
the end of a high-speed chase. But didn’t do anything wrong.” into the case has gone on for two and scribe the actions of the troopers in
long-withheld body-camera video a half years, looking not only at the Greene’s arrest as criminal and racist.
published by The Associated Press Davis added to the committee’s frus- troopers but whether top brass ob-

Asian population overcount masks community nuances

(AP) — Jennifer Chau Asian American Native Ha- tain communities, some ad- future. living on reservations were
was astonished last month waiian and Pacific Islander vocates said. It may also per- undercounted.
when the U.S. Census Bu- For Equity Coalition. petuate the “model minority” Asians were overcounted by
reau’s report card on how myth of Asians being affluent a higher rate than any other Civil rights leaders blamed
accurately it counted the But Chau and other advo- and well-educated. group. White residents who the undercounts on hurdles
U.S. population in 2020 cates and academics also be- aren’t Hispanic were over- created by the pandemic and
showed that Asian people lieve the overcounting of the “Asian Americans have the counted by 0.6%. The Black political interference by then-
were overcounted by the Asian population by 2.6% largest income inequality population was undercount- President Donald Trump’s
highest rate of any race or in the once-a-decade U.S. than any other racial groups ed by 3.3%, those who identi- administration, which tried
ethnic group. head count may not be all in the U.S. and the overall fied as some other race had a unsuccessfully to add a citi-
that it seems on the surface. overcount likely masks the 4.3% undercount, almost 5% zenship question to the cen-
The director of an Asian They say it likely masks great experiences of Asian ethnic of the Hispanic population sus form and cut field opera-
American advocacy group variation in who was counted groups who were more vul- was missed and more than tions short.
thought thousands of people among different Asian com- nerable to being undercount- 5.6% of American Indians
would be missed — outreach munities in the U.S. They ed,” said Aggie Yellow Horse,
activities had been scratched also believe it could signal an assistant professor of Asian
by the coronavirus pandemic, that biracial and multiracial Pacific American Studies at
and she and her staff feared residents identified as Asian Arizona State University.
widespread language barri- in larger numbers than in the
ers and wariness of sharing past. Almost four dozen U.S.
information with the gov- House members this month
ernment could hinder par- The specifics are difficult to asked the Census Bureau to
ticipation. They also thought determine because all Asian break down the accuracy of
recent attacks against Asian communities are grouped the count of Asian residents
Americans could stir up fears together under the same by subgroups. Asians in the
within the Asian population, race category in the census. U.S. trace their roots to more
the fastest-growing race or This conceals the wide vari- than 20 countries, with Chi-
ethnic group in the U.S. ety of income, education and na and India having the larg-
health backgrounds between est representation. But the
“I’m honestly shocked,” said subgroups and tends to blur bureau has no plans to do so,
Chau, director of the Arizona characteristics unique to cer- at least not in the immediate