GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Harrowing new videos released show the moment a Grand Rapids police officer fatally shot Patrick Lyoya in back of the head during a traffic stop this month.
Grand Rapids police released video evidence from numerous sources depicting what happened last Monday, when an officer shot and killed 26-year-old Patrick Lyoya during a traffic stop on April 4.
According to dashcam video from the officer’s car, Lyoya pulls over in a residential neighborhood on a rainy morning, with the police pulling up behind him.
Lyoya and the cop, who has not been identified, get out of their cars.
In video from his body camera, the officer can be heard telling Lyoya to get back in his car and asking for his driver’s license.
Lyoya, who remains outside the vehicle, repeatedly asks the officer what he did wrong and asks a passenger inside the car to hand over his license.
According to the officer’s body camera footage, Lyoya was pulled over because “the plate doesn’t belong on this automobile.”
Lyoya tries to move away, and the officer appears to try to restrain and handcuff him.
Lyoya then flees, and the officer chases him until he is pinned to the ground.
The cop can be heard yelling “stop” and “stop resisting” as the two struggle.
According to cellphone footage captured by the passenger in Lyoya’s car, the officer, who appeared to have unholstered his Taser, can be heard shouting at Lyoya to either “let go of” or “drop” the Taser.
That video shows the Grand Rapids Police officer pinning Lyoya to the ground with a knee to his back, then grabbing his revolver and shooting him in the back of the head as he laid face down on the ground.
After the tapes were released, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Lyoya’s family, said in a statement that it “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.”
“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,” Crump said.
26-year-old Patrick Lyoya and his family are refugees who fled Congo to escape violence in 2014. Dorcas Lyoya, Patrick’s mom, said she thought the U.S. would be safe.
Ben Crump, who previously represented the families of George Floyd, killed by Minneapolis police in May 2020, and Breonna Taylor, killed by Louisville police in March 2020, compared the treatment of Blacks by police to what Russian soldiers are doing in Ukraine.
“We are condemning Russian soldiers for shooting civilians in Ukraine in the back of the head,” Crump said. “Why aren’t we condemning police officers here in the United States of America shooting Black civilians in the back of the head? It’s a simple question. If it’s wrong in Ukraine … it’s wrong in Grand Rapids, Michigan.”
“Truth is the foundation for us to get justice,” Crump said, thanking the Grand Rapids city manager and police chief for releasing the footage.
He further demanded that the cop who shot Lyoya’s name be released, that he be fired, and that he be prosecuted.
State officials have pledged a thorough investigation.
The Grand Rapids Police officer who shot Patrick Lyoya is on paid leave and has been stripped of his police power pending the investigation.
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