GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Washington Insider Magazine) – According to footage released Wednesday of the April 4 incident, a Black man face-down on the street was shot dead in the back of the skull by a Michigan policeman, the violent conclusion to a stop sign, brief foot pursuit, and battle over a stun gun.
Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old man from Grand Rapids, Michigan, was shot and killed outside his home. The white cop repeatedly told Lyoya to “let go” of the Taser, yelling, “Drop the Taser!” at one moment.
The city’s new chief of police, Eric Winstrom, cited a necessity for openness in releasing 4 videos, including vital evidence of the incident captured by a passenger in Lyoya’s vehicle on that damp morning.
Lyoya is shown on video fleeing from the police who pulled him over for traveling with a registration that didn’t match the car. According to ABC NEWS, they fought in front of multiple houses as Lyoya’s passenger stepped out and watched.
The tussle for the Taser, according to Winstrom, lasted around 90 seconds. The cop was on top of Lyoya in the dying seconds, laying on his back at moments to control him.
The shooting is being investigated by state police. Dr. Stephen Cohle, Kent County’s chief medical examiner, said the autopsy was done but toxicology testing had not yet been completed.
From the outset, the traffic encounter was tense. Before the policeman approached, Lyoya, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, got out of the car. He told Lyoya he had to get in in the car, but he refused.
The police wanted his driver’s license after asking if he knew English. The foot pursuit began shortly after, as seen by video.
The policeman, a 7-year veteran who has been on paid administrative leave while the inquiry is ongoing, was not identified by Winstrom.
Lyoya’s passenger, the policeman’s body camera, the policeman’s patrol car, and a doorbell camera all recorded video. Prosecutor Chris Becker, who will determine if charges should be filed, opposed Winstrom’s release, but indicated he may act on his own.
The public should not anticipate a rapid resolution, according to Becker.
The films, according to City Manager Mark Washington, would cause “expressions of shock, anger, and pain.” Concrete barriers encircled police headquarters, while several downtown firms shuttered their storefronts.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who visited with Lyoya’s family, said he has 5 siblings and 2 young daughters.
On behalf of Lyoya’s family, renowned civil rights lawyer Ben Crump asked for the officer involved in the incident to be fired as well as charged on Wednesday.
On Thursday afternoon, Lyoya and Crump’s family are planning to conduct a press conference.
Before a City Council hearing Tuesday night, over 100 protesters walked to Grand Rapids City Hall, chanting “No justice, no peace” and “Black lives matter.”
Following the publication of the videos, several hundred demonstrators assembled outside the Grand Rapids Police Department on Wednesday, with several swearing and yelling from behind barriers. The organization asked that the identity of the officer involved in the shooting be made public.
On Wednesday, some companies shortened their hours and closed early. Some of the windows were boarded up. Protesters demanded justice for Lyoya as well as numerous Black lives lost in police killings, but the march stayed nonviolent.
Last Monday, Winstrom claimed he saw Lyoya’s father, Peter Lyoya, and the two of them cried.
Grand Rapids police, like those in many other American communities, have been criticized for using excessive force, notably towards Black individuals, who constitute 18% of the total population.
The Michigan Supreme Court received statements in November in a case concerning the practice of fingerprinting and photographing persons who have never been criminally charged. The policy was amended in 2015, according to Grand Rapids.
Breonna Taylor Way, a downtown street, has been named after the Grand Rapids native who was slain by authorities in Louisville, Kentucky, amid a failed narcotics search in 2020.
