After declaring he’d come to “piss on your Confederacy” referencing then EBRP Mayor Pro-Tem Scott Wilson, and also declaring that, “Justice came when Gavin Long came,” Arthur “Sliky Slim” Reed, who is directly employed by prominent national Civil Rights attorney Ben Crump and who has been by his side at two recent Ronald Greene rallies, is escorted out of the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council meeting in July of 2017.
We doubt anyone will question our dedication to coverage of the Ronald Greene in-custody death at the hands of Louisiana State Police (LSP) on May 10, 2019. From our initial coverage and breaking of the matter on September 10, 2020 through covering in excruciating detail the happenings at the criminal defense trial in Farmerville, Louisiana, we’ve tried to be as blunt and thorough as we possibly can.
As everyone is aware, at the last court hearing on August 22, 2023, we focused on the minutia of each defendant’s proceedings and only notated in passing the fact that prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump had been retained by the Greene family. In sharp contrast, Crump’s signing on the case seemed to be all that the mainstream media focused upon.
We intend to be equally blunt today in our assessment of Crump’s entry into this matter, which we’re now prepared to declare a major impediment toward the Greene family obtaining justice in Louisiana, either from a criminal or civil standpoint.
Very long-time subscribers to this blog will recall this August 17, 2017 feature entailing what we assessed as “bad optics for Gov. John Bel Edwards.”
That feature highlighted what we consider horrendous episodes being conducted by Crump Law Firm Paralegal and Investigator Arthur “Silky Slim” Reed. It was Reed who openly condoned the killing of four (4) Baton Rouge police officers, three of whom died instantly and a fourth, Nick Tullier, who lingered for years in a Houston hospital paralyzed for years before finally passing away on May 5, 2022 from the ambush he endured six years before at the hands of Gavin Long. It was Long who made his way down from Kanas City, Missouri and ambushed the Baton Rouge Police Officers (one of whom was black) on July 17, 2016.
At this time, let’s take a look at “Silky Slim’s” abhorrent statement and conduct before the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council in July of 2017. In fact, we’re going to invoke Crump’s own slogan: “Don’t say no ‘mo, just watch this video.”
July, 2017 EBRP Council Meeting: Arthur “Silky Slim” Reed fully justifies Gavin Long’s actions as, “an eye for an eye” and emphasized that, “justice came when Gavin Long came!”
As indicated, we’re going to be very blunt and emphatic about our thoughts entailing Crump entering the scene and having the unmitigated gall to have “Silky Slim” stand around at last week’s rally at the Louisiana State Capital on Wednesday, September 27, 2023 (and a similar rally on August 22, 2023 in Farmerville)! We view Reed’s commentary above as repulsive, despicable, inexcusable, and abhorrent! Furthermore, the proper thing for Crump to have done if he felt so strongly the need to have Reed appear with him at these functions would have been to have Reed himself make an honest and sincere apology to every citizen of Baton Rouge for the highly-offensive comments that he made in the video above!
Being blunt, Reed’s appearance back here in the city where he generated such extreme animosity six years ago was nothing short of revolting to us! We are not happy in the slightest to see this quest for justice for Ronald Greene stoop to such a low level!
We’ve never seen the first person openly cheer and justify the killing of Ronald Greene (nor should they), but to condone Reed’s inflammatory remarks on the video above wherein he condones the killing of three (ultimately four) Baton Rouge Police officers is a direct slap in the face to every police officer Long ambushed; furthermore, it’s a direct slap in the face to every family member and friend of Nick Tullier and their six-year battle that they fought along side him after being left almost-totally paralyzed (just look at the pictures on the link above which we’re duplicating now for convenience)! Tullier’s father, James, actually set up an RV next to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital so he could stay close to his beloved son in the immediate aftermath of Long’s despicable act! To see “Slim’s” commentary above and see him reappearing in the very city in which he made the disgusting and inexcusable commentary is beyond repulsive! It’s downright sickening.
Now, we want to go ahead and include a few more videos of “Silky – ‘justice came when Gavin Long came’ – Slim” and the pure filth and garbage that spewed out of his mouth during the same timeframe as the above video:
Slim, in demanding the resignation of former EBRP Mayor-President Melven “Kip” Holden, curses the very God he claims he now serves after having become a Christian upon release from his prison sentence.
Slim provides yet more “bad optics” for Edwards (now Greene family?) at an 8/10/17 meeting of the EBRP Metro Council.
Referring back to Wednesday’s rally, it was very sparsely attended, with most of the attendees being members arriving from out-of-state representing Black Lives Matter and the Black Panthers, with many of the same names and faces being present at every rally we’ve attended. Our point is that the number of folk from the local area has been miniscule. That’s understandable in Farmerville, but Baton Rouge is a huge metropolitan area! We would suggest that large crowds are failing to materialize as a direct result of Crump’s entry into the equation but, more disturbingly, that Arthur “Silky Slim” Reed would be brought right back into a city (Baton Rouge) that few people, either from the black community or the white community, want anything to do with! It’s that simple!
Now, we’re about to make a few statements in assessing Crump’s involvement in this matter and why we view it as a huge negative for any potential for the Greene family to obtain justice, either on the criminal or civil front, but first, we want to present a brief video of Crump responding to a question by Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns about the fact that the Feds already had the Ronald Greene case for a protracted period before turning it over to Union Parish DA John Belton. Here’s Burns’ question and Crump’s response (Note: Silky briefly enters the picture at the 0:24 mark of the video):
August 22, 2023 (after Union Parish Court hearing): Crump responds to question by Burns entailing why the Feds failed to obtain indictments after having the case for a rather protracted period (Note: Silky briefly enters the picture at the 0:24 mark of the video).
Okay. Now for our observations:
— Even if the Feds do opt to pursue charges in the Greene matter after its initial foray which entailed a rather protracted period in which they came up empty, only the Defense, NOT the Prosecution, can request a Change of Venue! From the just-linked feature:
3. The rule provides for a change of venue only on defendant’s motion and does not extend the same right to the prosecution, since the defendant has a constitutional right to a trial in the district where the offense was committed. Constitution of the United States, Article III, Sec. 2, Par. 3; Amendment VI.
Trust us, the Defense is perfectly content to try the case in the Western District of Louisiana, and the prosecution (i.e. the Feds) is hamstrung in being able to move any such trial. As was demonstrated on August 2, 2023 entailing former LSP Trooper Jacob Brown’s trial entailing Aaron Bowman’s beating, that’s a tough venue in which to prevail. Further, just as Brown flooded the Federal courtroom with friends and family (which is his legal right to do and also their legal right to attend), expect the same should any future criminal trial of the officers involved in the Ronald Greene matter ever materialize.
— As stated on the feature above, Brown would have been perfectly content with a hung jury, and his attorney, Michael DuBos, readily told all of his family and friends while the jury was deliberating that the Feds would be highly unlikely to retry the case. It’s our belief that the Feds are likely to assess the same uphill battle entailing Greene and yet another Federal Grand Jury. It’s already a very high hill to climb, and folk (i.e. potential jurors) aren’t likely to be favorably influenced by the introduction of Crump (and most especially not “Silky Slim”) into the equation. As DuBos pointed out to those he addressed in the courtroom on August 2, 2023, the Feds don’t have infinite resources to keep throwing at one case. They aren’t going to proceed with a case they feel they can’t win, and the fact of the matter is that the case MUST be tried in Federal Court in the Western District because the prosecution is hamstrung entailing any ability to move the case. Furthermore, the prosecution must be able to convince itself that it can obtain 12 jurors, all of whom would be required to vote “guilty” to obtain a conviction. While that’s not totally impossible given the venue, it’s an extremely tall order, and we saw that in the Bowman case where only one juror held out (“Ms. Reluctant”), and she ultimately found Jacob Brown “not guilty.”
— Likewise, any civil trial will have to take place in the Federal courthouse in the Western District of Louisiana (we recently provided an update to the civil trial near the end of this feature). The minimum number of jurors for that is six (6) and, unless agreed to by both Plaintiff and Defendant. the verdict must be unanimous. The Defendants in the Greene civil case would almost certainly never agree to anything less than a unanimous verdict entailing any civil judgment. The defense attorneys will most assuredly stress the fact that Greene was alluding law enforcement at speeds in excess of 100 MPH and will likely try to introduce the fact that at least one autopsy referenced, “cocaine-induced delirium.” Even though Plaintiff attorneys can try through the jury selection process to obtain a jury deemed most favorable in its eyes to Greene, we believe prospective jurors will have a hard time blocking people like “Silky Slim” from their minds even if they may claim they can’t recall his name or anything about him. In Baton Rouge, more people recognize “Silky Slim” than will recognize Crump! On that, we can assure anyone!
— Even upon a successful civil judgment, the Louisiana Legislature must appropriate the money to pay the judgment. Prior to the “Silky Slim” injection, we would have figured that would be a given, but now we’re not so sure. After all, victims of the 1983 floods in Louisiana wound up having to wait 40 YEARS to obtain $130 million of the $300 million in judgments (with interest) they’d obtained!
Obviously, the Greene family’s euphoria over Crump’s insertion into its quest for justice notwithstanding, we think his insertion is a net hindrance toward that justice, and we almost-assuredly know that the insertion of Arthur “Silky Slim” Reed is! What do we know though, huh?
The September 27, 2023 rally was largely a copy and paste of features we’ve presented from Farmerville, so we’re not uploading the video of it; however, for anyone who wishes to see the video, we’re going to lean upon Jason Arceneaux’s feature on Unfiltered with Kiran in providing this video link for anyone who may wish to view it.
Lastly, we have called the Union Parish Clerk of Court several times since the August 22, 2023 hearing to see if Judge Rogers may have issued a ruling on LSP Trooper Kory York’s Kastigar filing by his attorney, J. Michael Small. Our last such call was on Thursday, September 28, 2023. We were told that no ruling has been rendered. It’s possible Judge Rogers may simply wait until the next court hearing on October 12, 2023 and issue his ruling in open court. Unless a ruling transpires before then, we’ll certainly attend that court hearing and report upon his ruling. We’ve already stated our belief that he’s going to grant the Motion to Quash, and that DA John Belton and his own prosecutorial ineptitude which is responsible for that fact.
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I agree with 99.9% of what you said. Or maybe 100%. Perhaps I just want to add that the failure of local citizens to show up and show out for justice is not entirely due to the presence and abhorrent remarks of “Slim.” I find that Louisiana residents are simply not showing out for justice ever. The citizenry has grown accustomed to dirty politics and racism, they have been conditioned to accept it or face retaliation from powerful leaders. Mobilizing communities to act out for justice is much like the proverbial pulling of teeth.
Until Louisiana’s citizens become active against corruption, this will continue. Slim’s disgusting remarks or no Slim’s disgusting remarks.