Convenient Uses of the Passive Voice: and other corporate media tricks slowing down the dismantling of white supremacy
A version of this article was published May 31 at Medium.
On May 26, the New York Times summarized the night-time, back-roads death of a Black man, a 49-year-old barber named Ronald Greene — who, when he finally expired from numerous and savage injuries, was surrounded by “at least six” white cops — like this:
“Relatives were initially told that he had died [on May 10, 2019] from injuries he sustained in a crash after he failed to stop for a traffic violation outside Monroe, Louisiana, according to a lawyer for the family.”
In their use of the passive voice (relatives were told), the Times omits mention of who lied to Greene’s family about how he died. We are expected (also in the passive voice; active voice: The Times expects us …) to assume the obvious, that of course the police lied to the family.
This use of the passive is widespread, and sometimes good reasons exist for its use. But in its omission of who did the action, the passive voice is often a convenient way for police departments to cover up misconduct, and for corporate media to restrain efforts to strengthen or to create accountability, and to reduce however gradually the widespread culture of impunity on the part of those entrusted to protect and serve.
Another ubiquitous tactic is use of the stock-phrase according to a lawyer for the family. As here, the phrase creates the impression that the veracity of these events is still up in the air, or unproven. In fact, the number and the depth of the lies told by numerous agents of the Louisiana State Troopers are incontrovertible, thanks in large part to police body camera footage, whose release was only forced earlier this month, more than two years after these sad, brutal events.
That phrase — “according to a lawyer for the family” — serves to sow doubt in readers’ minds about the events of the night Greene was so savagely murdered by a gang of out-of-control cops, where none need no longer exist.
Still unknown: the traffic violation Greene was supposed to have committed. Even two years later, more than one source of information about the circumstances of Greene’s death continue to characterize the violation as “unspecified” (which we can now safely assume means he was DWB).
Police then told a different story, which in retrospect was their second big lie: Greene had struggled with officers and died on his way to the hospital. (Information about sources is below.)
The Louisiana State Troopers had for two long years successfully resisted efforts to make them release the video, claiming it would be “improper” due to ongoing investigations. (How many times have you heard that one?) It’s still unclear exactly who compelled them ten days ago to hand over the video, but a police spokesman said the footage was released to — get this — encourage “healing.”
“At least six” white Louisiana state troopers were involved in Greene’s arrest and subsequent murder. Even now, practically all of the sources that were consulted in the research for this story repeat this phrase, implying that the exact number of officers involved is still uncertain.
The troopers — members of the increasingly notorious unit known as Troop F, responsible for “patrolling” the area around Monroe — 1) repeatedly tased Greene, 2) put him in a choke-hold, 3) handcuffed him, 4) shackled him, 5) repeatedly punched him, 6) pepper-sprayed him, 7) dragged him face-down by the shackles, and then 8) forced him to remain lying face-down, because (they claimed) they were afraid he would spit on them. Mr. Greene had screamed I’m sorry and I’m your brother! I’m scared! I’m scared! One of his assailants called him a “stupid motherfucker.”
The at-least-six cops then left him moaning and in the prone position for nine minutes (not the only parallel in this case with what was done to George Floyd), while using sanitizer wipes to clean themselves up. Several more minutes passed before Greene — unresponsive, bleeding from the head — was placed in an ambulance and handcuffed to the gurney. They delivered him to the hospital dead on arrival.
The highest-ranking officer involved in these events, Lieutenant John Clary, for 31 years a member of the Louisiana State Police, lied to investigators when he told them he had no body-camera footage. (Police documents also falsely reported that he had turned off his camera.) When Lt. Clary reported that Greene had continued to resist arrest — “was still trying to get away” — even after he was handcuffed, Lt. Clary lied. When he claimed he had sat Greene up, Lt. Clary lied, for at least a third time.
In fact, more than 30 minutes’ worth of footage from his own body camera — which the cops were somehow allowed to keep under wraps for 106 weeks — reveal the number and extent of his lies.
For reasons not yet explained, the Louisiana State Troopers have chosen not to discipline Lt. Clary: not for anything he did or didn’t do the night Greene was murdered, not even for repeatedly lying to investigators about those actions. Concerns by top brass about the impact on the retirement benefits of this veteran cop is no doubt playing a factor in Lt. Clary’s having, so far, gotten out of this moral morass scot-free.
Trooper Dakota DeMoss was initially counseled for violating department rules about “courtesy,” prior to being arrested this past February for his actions during another incident (on May 23, 2020) not fifty miles from the scene of Greene’s murder, this one involving 29-year-old Antonio Harris: again for excessive force, and again following the handcuffing of a Black-man-stopped-for-an-unspecified-traffic-violation. (Since DeMoss and his cop colleagues failed to kill Harris, and since no video of those events has surfaced, there hasn’t been nearly as much reporting on his case as there has been on Greene's.) The department recently signaled that they’re thinking about maybe firing DeMoss.
On Sep. 22 of last year, hours after being told he would be fired for the role he played in Greene’s murder, Trooper Chris Hollingsworth appears to have committed vehicular suicide. He was buried with honors but in secret, for fear his interment would become the sight of a mass protest.
For actions he did or did not take at the scene, Trooper Kory York was suspended in January for 50 hours, allegedly without pay, but is now back on the job.
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* In attempting to bring these events to a wider audience, I relied on the account from the Wiki article Death of Ronald Greene, and also on reporting (in chronological order) by * the Associated Press (AP, 09/25/20: Trooper quietly buried amid scrutiny over Black man’s death); * Oxygen.com (03/01/21: Louisiana State trooper suspended for kicking, dragging Ronald Greene before his death); * AP again (03/12/21: ‘Gonna be sore’: Louisiana troopers boasted of beating Black man [Antonio Harris]; * AP a third time (05/19/21: ‘I’m scared’: AP obtains video of deadly arrest of Black man [Greene]); * AP a fourth time (05/21/21: Video: Shackled Black man ordered face down in deadly arrest); * the Guardian (05/22/21: Ronald Greene punched and dragged by police before his death, video shows); and * the New York Times (05/26/21: Reckoning for America in the tumultuous year after the death of Floyd).
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