Carl Cavalier, a Black Louisiana State trooper, said he received a notice of termination from his job after going on the record with local news outlets, accusing other officers of murder. He also is accusing the Baton Rouge Police Department of an internal cover-up to protect the officers. NBC News reports Cavalier is vowing to appeal his termination and get his job back. 

Cavalier sat down for an on-camera interview with local Baton Rouge news station WBRZ in June, explaining what he believes is an internal cover-up by the Louisiana State Police to protect the officers involved in the killing of Ronald Greene.

At the time, Cavalier came down on the department in his interview with WBRZ, saying he believed there were "murderers" still working with the department.

“Guys who received a slap on the wrist for their roles in the Ronald Greene incident are unpunished… patrolling the streets and left on the job," he told the outlet. 

He later said in another interview that he didn't expect something like this to happen at his place of employment. 

“I guess it created like a shock to me, created like a level of disappointment that I'm still recovering from now. The fact that these guys are actively covering up a murder,” Cavalier said.

According to CNN, Greene died in May 2019 following a police chase near Monroe, Louisiana. The victim's family was told by the department that Greene was killed in a car crash. Body camera footage released two years later shows Greene was tased, kicked and beaten by troopers until he died while in police custody, as Blavity previously reported.

Two of the officers involved were punished by the department for not following necessary body camera procedures. A third trooper was terminated for his role in the case, though the officer died in a car crash right before his termination. 

“I swore and took an oath to do exactly what I’m doing,” Cavalier said, per NBC. “I’m going to pursue my job with everything in me. If the justice system works like it’s supposed to, if the appeals process works how it’s supposed to, I believe I’ll have my job back.”

“We all have a duty and a role to try and fix the issues. To try to be a solution to the problems we are facing, instead of just enabling it and allowing it to be,” he continued, admitting to the outlet that he looks at himself as a whistleblower in the situation.

Cavalier went on paid leave in August before he received a letter from Louisiana State Police Superintendent Lamar A. Davis, notifying him of his termination within 45 days. The note cites the reason for Cavalier's departure as violations of loyalty to the department, public statements, seeking publicity, dissemination of information and conduct unbecoming of an officer.

The department responded to Cavalier's termination in a statement to The Washington Post. 

"Trooper Cavalier received the decision of the appointing authority to move forward with termination based on an administrative investigation which revealed he violated several departmental policies," Louisiana State Police spokeswoman Melissa Matey said on Thursday. "It should be noted that our disciplinary administrative process is not finalized and Cavalier remains an employee at this time."

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