Police Interactions.

hanimmal

Well-Known Member
https://apnews.com/article/patrick-lyoya-killed-michigan-police-8bd07136ff62343a2f28349bbaae04e7
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A Black man face-down on the ground was fatally shot in the back of the head by a Michigan police officer, the violent climax of a traffic stop, brief foot chase and struggle over a stun gun, according to videos of the April 4 incident.

Patrick Lyoya, 26, was killed outside a house in Grand Rapids. The white officer repeatedly ordered Lyoya to “let go” of his Taser, at one point demanding: “Drop the Taser!”

Citing a need for transparency, the city’s new police chief, Eric Winstrom, on Wednesday released four videos, including critical footage of the shooting recorded by a passenger in Lyoya’s car on that rainy morning.

“I view it as a tragedy. ... It was a progression of sadness for me,” said Winstrom, a former high-ranking Chicago police commander who became Grand Rapids chief in March. The city of about 200,000 people is about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of Detroit.

Video shows Lyoya running from the officer who stopped him for driving with a license plate that didn’t belong to the vehicle. They struggled in front of several homes while Lyoya’s passenger got out and watched.

Winstrom said the fight over the Taser lasted about 90 seconds. In the final moments, the officer was on top of Lyoya, kneeling on his back at times to subdue him.

“From my view of the video, Taser was deployed twice. Taser did not make contact,” Winstrom told reporters. “And Mr. Lyoya was shot in the head. However, that’s the only information that I have.”

State police are investigating the shooting. Kent County’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Stephen Cohle, said he completed the autopsy but toxicology tests haven’t been finished.

The traffic stop was tense from the start. Video shows Lyoya, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, getting out of the car before the officer approached. He ordered Lyoya to get back in the vehicle but the man declined.

The officer asked him if he spoke English and demanded his driver’s license. The foot chase began soon after, video shows.

Winstrom didn’t identify the officer, a seven-year veteran who is on paid leave during the investigation.

“Me being from Chicago for the last 20 years, I’ve handled many police shootings myself, so I do have a lot of experience in this,” the chief said. “I was hoping to never have to utilize that experience here.”

Video was collected from Lyoya’s passenger, the officer’s body-worn camera, the officer’s patrol car and a doorbell camera. Prosecutor Chris Becker, who will decide whether any charges are warranted, objected to the release but said Winstrom could act on his own.

Becker said the public shouldn’t expect a quick decision.

“While the videos released today are an important piece of evidence, they are not all of the evidence,” he said.

The officer’s body-worn camera was turned off before the shooting, which happens when a button is pushed for 3 seconds, Winstrom said. He said it appears it was deactivated unintentionally due to body pressure during the struggle, but he would not discuss any officer statements about it.

“That will come out once the investigation’s complete,” Winstrom said.

City Manager Mark Washington warned that the videos would lead to “expressions of shock, of anger and of pain.” Some downtown businesses boarded up their storefronts, and concrete barricades surrounded police headquarters.

Lyoya had two young daughters and five siblings, said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who spoke to his family.

“He arrived in the United States as a refugee with his family fleeing violence. He had his whole life ahead of him,” Whitmer, a Democrat, said.

Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, speaking on behalf of Lyoya’s family, on Wednesday called for the officer in the shooting to be fired and prosecuted.

“The video clearly shows that this was an unnecessary, excessive, and fatal use of force against an unarmed Black man who was confused by the encounter and terrified for his life,” Crump said in a release.

“It should be noted that Patrick never used violence against this officer even though the officer used violence against him in several instances for what was a misdemeanor traffic stop,” he added.

Crump and Lyoya’s family were expected to hold a news conference Thursday afternoon.

More than 100 people marched to Grand Rapids City Hall before a City Commission meeting Tuesday night, chanting “Black lives matter” and “No justice, no peace.”

On Wednesday, several hundred protesters gathered outside the Grand Rapids Police Department following the release of the videos, with some cursing and shouting from behind barricades. The group demanded that officials make public the name of the officer in the shooting.

Some businesses cut their hours short Wednesday, closing early. Some boarded up windows. But the demonstration remained nonviolent with protesters demanding justice for Lyoya and other Black lives lost in shootings involving police.

Winstrom last week said he met Lyoya’s father, Peter Lyoya, and that they both cried.

“I get it as a father. ... It’s just heart-wrenching,” the chief told WOOD-TV.

As in many U.S. cities, Grand Rapids police have been occasionally criticized over the use of force, particularly against Black people, who make up 18% of the population.

In November, the Michigan Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit over the practice of photographing and fingerprinting people who were never charged with a crime. Grand Rapids said the policy changed in 2015.

A downtown street has been designated Breonna Taylor Way, named for the Black woman and Grand Rapids native who was killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky, during a botched drug raid in 2020.


 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member

I am glad they had that dog muzzled. That could have gotten far worse if they didn't.
what happens to black men who become police officers? why would he do that? what kind of indoctrination does it take to make someone identify more with being a police officer than with being a member of an oppressed minority?
maybe i'm being naive, but i can't imagine someone turning their backs so completely on the social issues plaguing their own race.
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
what happens to black men who become police officers? why would he do that? what kind of indoctrination does it take to make someone identify more with being a police officer than with being a member of an oppressed minority?
maybe i'm being naive, but i can't imagine someone turning their backs so completely on the social issues plaguing their own race.
Until all the very racist police behavior in the news two summers ago, i would not have imagined it either. Chauvin was not an aberration; that seemed the lesson to me.
Now there is no bottom to what i expect from them.
 

hanimmal

Well-Known Member
what happens to black men who become police officers? why would he do that? what kind of indoctrination does it take to make someone identify more with being a police officer than with being a member of an oppressed minority?
maybe i'm being naive, but i can't imagine someone turning their backs so completely on the social issues plaguing their own race.
Anyone can be a dick. Needing to 'dominate' is not a race thing.
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
The pigs are pigs no matter the country.


i try to be accepting of other cultures way of life, but this rape shit in India has got to fucking stop...what the fuck is wrong with them? why aren't Indian women leaving the country in droves? why aren't their families doing anything about this shit? why does America or any other semi civilized country still do business with them will they clean their fucking act up? ...?
 

Sir Napsalot

Well-Known Member

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
That’s crazy shit re the lady. Cops that shouldn’t be cops should be a prime time show :(. Great de-escalation technique right there. Who teaches the guys, and how do they live with themselves after that?
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
They should add assault with a dead weapon.
Working as a deputy at 81 years old, WTF is wrong with these people. Even as a jail guard this person was too old for the job to begin with. An 81 year old trying to stop an 18 year old with an AR15, paying this guy was a waste of money to begin with and how he had this job needs to be looked into. Also, it probably wasn't the first time abuse happened, he was friskier when he was younger.
 
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