New audio has surfaced from an internal affairs interview with the late Louisiana State Police trooper who beat a Black man to death in 2019.
During the interview–conducted just six days before the trooper died in a fatal car crash–Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth painted a very different picture of the incident, holding himself out as the alleged victim.
In September 2020—over a year after Greene's death and just hours after finding out the Louisiana State Police planned to fire him—Master Trooper Hollingsworth crashed his personal vehicle on Interstate 20 in Monroe, Louisiana. He died the next day.
You can listen to the newly released audio of the IA interview here:
Hollingsworth's account countered the body camera footage showing Hollingsworth bashing in Ronald Greene's head with his flashlight and using a stun gun on him. Prior to the release of the bodycam footage, state police reported Greene died because of a car crash.
During the fatal arrest, Greene repeatedly pleaded with the troopers, screaming "I'm scared! I'm scared!" while Hollingsworth repeatedly beat Greene until his body went limp.
Greene died from his injuries while in the ambulance en route to the hospital.
During the IA interview, the trooper said he was not trying to use deadly force against Greene. He claimed he was only trying to free his own arm.
The investigator said:
"According to the video, it doesn't appear that you ever gave him a chance to get out of the car."
"I mean you pretty much run up to the window and then within a second or two you tase him. How come?"
Hollingsworth answered:
"I was in fear that he was going to hurt myself or Trooper DeMoss."
The investigator followed up:
"Was he doing anything to indicate that he was gonna fight you, try to punch you ... was he pressing on the gas? Was the car accelerating?"
Hollingsworth said not at that time.
People are disappointed, but not surprised.
As one person noted:
"We are outraged...but this abuse has been standard policing in our country for decades...and it continues..."
Another person tweeted:
"ANOTHER modern day lynching carried out by the organized crime unit we call 'Police'."
"We must dismantle & rebuild PDs as we know them. Revamp hiring practices in attempt to weed out racists &/or abusers which seem to be rampant especially in southern states #JusticeForRonaldGreen."
Hollingsworth claimed he didn't know how serious Greene's injuries were.
Yet in another audio recording of Hollingsworth's conversation with another officer shortly after the arrest, he could be heard boasting.
He said:
"I beat the ever-living f*ck out of him and everything else trying to get him under control."
"Then we finally got him in handcuffs when the third man got there, and the son of a bitch was still fighting."
"We were still wrestling with him trying to hold him down."
He continued:
"There was blood everywhere.
"Then all of a sudden he just went limp."
One person tweeted:
"Get your knees off our necks!"
Hollingsworth died in a single-person car crash less than a week after the internal affairs interview.
His vehicle collided with a guardrail hours after he learned he was being fired. There is speculation it was deliberate, but this remains unconfirmed.
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