We aren’t likely to get a resignation out of the mounting outrage over the coverup of the Ronald Greene killing by the Louisiana State Police, at least not from Gov. John Bel Edwards. At best he’ll pick somebody he can sacrifice to save himself, and throw that unfortunate minion under the bus. Still, it’s interesting to see the Greene scandal fester.

Yesterday there were two developments – actually, three – which indicate that Edwards didn’t put anything to bed when he had Legislative Black Caucus chair Vincent Pierre running out to the Baton Rouge Press Club to do a Bojangles dance and swear the Caucus was fully behind Edwards and that he didn’t do anything wrong in covering up Greene’s killing until after the 2019 election.

The first came when House Speaker Clay Schexnayder announced an eight-person bipartisan committee which would investigate the killing and the coverup, ostensibly in advance of an impeachment proceeding…

Lawmakers announced Thursday the creation of a committee to review how Louisiana State Police handled a 2019 arrest that ended with Ronald Greene’s death in police custody.

Louisiana Speaker of the House Clay Schexnayder said the bipartisan group of lawmakers will review “all levels” of the incident, which will include seeking testimony from various people involved.

“It’s concerning,” Schexnayder said in an interview with WBRZ-TV Thursday. “Here’s the thing I’ve said from the get go, we will search out the truth. The truth will lead us in the right direction and that’s where we will be. We will come up with a decision from there.”

The formation of the legislative committee comes after new revelations from The WBRZ Investigative Unit and Associated Press in recent weeks. That includes recent reports showing that second-in-command at State Police, Doug Cain, was implicated in the cover-up and that Governor John Bel Edwards was made aware of Greene’s violent encounter with troopers just hours after it happened. The reports prompted a news conference from the governor last week where he distanced himself from the State Police investigation.

“The actions taken that night and the cryptic decisions and statements made every step of the way since then have eroded public trust. That trust can only be regained with a transparent and robust search for the whole truth in this matter,” Schexnayder said in a statement.

This is the committee…

• Rep. Tanner Magee, Chairman
• Rep. Tony Bacala
• Rep. Jason Hughes
• Rep. Edmond Jordan
• Rep. Mandie Landry
• Rep. C. Denise Marcelle
• Rep. Richard Nelson
• Rep. Debbie Villio

It’s interesting that Landry would be on the committee. Frankly, that this is a 4-4 R-D committee and not a 4-4 white-black committee seems a little strange. We would have expected a Barbara Carpenter or a Kenny Cox or a Sam Jenkins to be on it, not Mandie Landry.

Maybe none of them wanted it. Marcelle is basically the only black House member who’s managed to summon up any real outrage over the Greene case, and that can generally be explained by the fact Marcelle is perpetually outraged.

Edwards put out a statement which praised Schexnayder for forming the committee, but essentially told him he was wasting his time because “I is clean…”

Gov. Edwards released the following statement on the formation of the Select Committee to Investigate Ronald Greene Incident in the Louisiana House of Representatives. #lagov #lalege pic.twitter.com/FMAkjIqDyC

— John Bel Edwards (@LouisianaGov) February 10, 2022

Except Ronald Greene’s family does not agree, and this was the second development: they’re now calling for Edwards’ resignation…

The family of Ronald Greene took an angry, direct tone Thursday when addressing Gov. John Bel Edwards, demanding he resign and that criminal charges be pressed against all involved in what they allege is a cover-up.

This comes days after Edwards said the claims he played a part in covering up the death of Greene were “categorically false.”

…

According to the family, they were contacted by Louisiana State Police shortly after Greene died. Greene’s sister, Alana Hardin said they were told he died in the crash.

“They told me Ronald Greene died from a car accident,” Hardin said. “He hit a tree and he went through the windshield and he died upon impact.”

…

“They knew big brother over them would take care,” said Mona Hardin, Greene’s mother. “They wouldn’t have to finish, all they’d have to do is write a narrative and the top brass would come up behind and clean up their mess.”

Now the family is demanding the governor fess up and step down.

“It’s too late governor. Gov. Edwards it’s too late. The blood of Ronald Greene is stained on your hands as well,” said Dinelle Hardin, sister of Greene. “He’s not speaking out because he cares about our family, he’s only speaking out to save his face, his legacy. That’s the only reason why, because he’s been exposed.”

And now the National Bar Association is demanding Edwards’ resignation as well…

Citing reports by The WBRZ Investigative Unit and Associated Press, the National Bar Association is calling for Governor John Bel Edwards to resign over the handling of the investigation into Ronald Greene’s 2019 death in police custody.

The association released the statement Thursday morning as state lawmakers announced a bipartisan committee to look into what the governor and other high-ranking officials knew about the Greene investigation and the apparent cover-up at State Police.

“In light of the recent developments brought to light by the Associated Press and WBRZ into the case of Ronald Greene, it is clear that the highest office in the State of Louisiana not only knew of Mr. Greene’s death hours after his murder, but used its heavy hand to suppress the truth instead of help bring justice to the Greene family. Justice was traded for political capital and survival,” the statement from association President Carlos Moore read in part.

If you haven’t heard of the National Bar Association, here’s who they are…

The National Bar Association was founded in 1925 and is the nation’s oldest and largest national network of predominantly African-American attorneys and judges. It represents the interests of approximately 66,000 lawyers, judges, law professors, and law students. The NBA is organized around 23 substantive law sections, 10 divisions, 12 regions, and over 80 affiliate chapters throughout the United States and around the world.

Right. So now you’ve got a legislative committee formed to investigate this scandal, potentially with an eye toward an impeachment, you have the family now calling for Edwards’ resignation, and you have a national black lawyers’ group which is joining in.

And the Legislative Black Caucus and the black Democrat candidate for the Senate in Louisiana this year have either backed Edwards or been silent – and in Gary Chambers’ case he just dropped a web ad where he burns a confederate flag and talks about how it’s time to finally end racism in the South, which was supposed to mean getting rid of the “racist” John Kennedy but now the ad itself is in flames because the most obvious racism in Louisiana today is John Bel Edwards’ coverup of the state police killing Ronald Greene.

What interesting times we live in, hmmm? One wonders what the outcome of these calls will be and how exactly this controversy will be worked out.