From left to right: John Clary, Dakota Demos, Chris Harpin,  Kory York and John Peters

5 White Louisiana officers indicted in connection with the 2019 deadly arrest of Ronald Greene

By Edward Era Barbacena

A grand jury indicted four Louisiana State Troopers and a former Union Parish sheriff deputy allegedly involved in the deadly 2019 arrest of Black motorist Ronald Greene on Thursday.

Following an hour-long deliberation, the 11-person grand jury indicted former LSP Troopers Kory York, John Clary, Dakota Demoss and former Troop F commander John Peters, and former Union Parish sheriff deputy Christopher Harpin for their involvement in Greene's arrest that subsequently led to his death, and the cover-up of his death.

The white men were charged with the following:

Kory York − One count of negligent homicide and 10 counts of malfeasance in office,

Christopher Harpin − Six counts of malfeasance in office,

John Clary − One count of malfeasance in office and one count of obstruction of justice,

Dakota Demoss − One count of obstruction of justice, and

John Peters − One count of obstruction of justice

Greene was brutally beaten and died during a State Police arrest shortly after midnight on May 10, 2019, following a two-parish, high-speed chase that ended in a car crash in Union Parish near Monroe. Greene originally failed to pull over for an unspecified traffic violation about 30 miles south of the Arkansas state line.

The Associated Press obtained and released body camera footage of Demoss, York and Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth stunning, punching and dragging Greene moments leading up to his death. Following the release of the footage, LSP reprimanded the three officers involved. However, Hollingsworth died in a single-passenger car crash in September 2021.

Third Judicial District Attorney John Belton announced in October that he would seek indictments against Demoss and York who he believes committed crimes in Greene's violent, fatal arrest.

"I've always said that I would take all legal evidence to a grand jury and allow the grand jury to make the decision, and the citizens of Union Parish spoke today," Belton said. "For this moment forward, it's a legal process that we all have to respect and in respecting that legal process, I'm not able to comment about the evidence of the case at this point."

Warrants have been issued for the arrest of the five white men.