A traffic stop by minor violation. A unarmed young black man. A white police. a few minute combatincluding shocking A shot was fired from the agent and shortly afterwards, while the black man was on the ground and the police officer was on top of him. This shot in the back of the head from Patrick Lyoya it expired refugee Coming to the United States with his family in 2014 and fleeing violence Democratic Republic of the Congo.
It was around 8 in the morning. April 4there Grand Rapids, Michiganbut it was Wednesday when the authorities did four public videos of the deadly encounter. He immediately rekindled his fire. anger Toured and recorded in the US after the murder of George Floyd almost two years ago protests in the ‘midwest’ city of 200,000 inhabitants.
Agency paid and unpaid leave
Hundreds of people had taken to the streets of Grand Rapids in the previous days. Justice and request to be named agent got involved. This person, who entered the police force in 2015, paid administrative leave after what happened and not charged at no cost. The state police, which started an investigation into the incident, will refer it to the prosecutor’s office, which will determine whether there is an accusation after the completion of their investigation.
Although the prosecutor requested last week that the videos not be made public until the investigation is complete, City Police Chief Eric WinstromHaving been on the job for only 37 days, he decided not to wait.
Truths
In videos released to the public this Wednesday, police car camerawhich? agent Next to him was a security guard (which he stopped recording at some point during the fight). houseboth with one mobile phone The agent is seen stopping a car that was passing through a residential area in southeast Grand Rapids one rainy morning by a man accompanying Lyoya in the vehicle.
Lyola got out of the car and the agent forced her back inside. Seems like ConfusedLyola asked what he had done wrong. Police at one point asked if you speak englishexplained that the plate did not match the vehicle, minor violationand asked for the license.
Lyola then opened the car door and asked the person inside for those papers. At one point he closed the door and started walking to the other side of the car and the police went to pick him up, at which point Lyoya tried to run away and started running.
The agent caught him and combat, the police shouted several times to stop resisting. At one point the agent shocking and the footage shows Lyoya grabbing that device to avoid electrocution. Later on Lyola lay on the floor with the agent on her back. At that moment, the agent shouted several times to drop the taser, although the footage did not clearly show whether he had it in his possession or whether he posed a risk to the police. Later, agent shot Lyoya in the back of the head with a service gun..
violence and tragedy
“The video clearly shows that lethal, excessive and unnecessary use of force “It’s against an unarmed black man who is confused and terrified for his life without ever meeting[the officer].” Benjamin Crumpwho is the lawyer Represented George Floyd’s family and that he also assumed the representation of Lyoya’s family. “Patrick,” said Crump, who will hold a press conference this Thursday. I have never used violence against the agent, even though the police used violence against him several times because it was a traffic stop for a violation.”
The local authorities, for their part, were not happy with what happened.terrible tragedy”. This is an expression used in a statement. mayor woman Rosalynn Bliss of Grand Rapids was present but did not speak at Wednesday’s press conference.
Yes it interfered with the image gestor municipality, Mark Washington. He said the city “is on the list of cities in the country where an African American has died as a result of the use of force in interaction with security forces.” work with full transparency and be responsible for ensuring that justice is established.”
This state governor Gretchen Whitmer He also released a statement expressing his condolences to the family of Lyoya, who has two daughters and five brothers. Speaking of “unimaginable pain and loss,” Democrat He wanted the protests to be “peaceful”.
a common problem
The Lyoya case, however, rekindles the situation. tensions over excessive use of police force when he encounters citizens, especially blacks. According to a database provided by ‘The Washington Post’, Officers on duty have fatally shot more than 250 people so far this year. An investigation published by ‘The New York Times’ last fall also revealed that: Five years previous US agents killed more 400 drivers He said they had no guns or knives and had not been persecuted for violent crimes. The newspaper also found that both police culture and the court set a precedent. significantly exaggerating the risks faced by officials at traffic stops.