Videos Show Police Officer Fatally Shooting Black Man in Michigan

Patrick Lyoya, 26, was killed by a Grand Rapids police officer last week during a traffic stop. Activists said the shooting followed years of unheeded calls for changes to the police force.

The police in Grand Rapids, Mich., released videos on Wednesday showing a white officer fatally shooting Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Black man, after a struggle during a traffic stop last week.

The officer, who has not been named, was lying on the back of Mr. Lyoya before he appeared to shoot him in the head. In the seconds before the shooting, Mr. Lyoya and the officer wrestled on the ground and seemed to be fighting for control of the officer’s Taser.

“When I saw the video, it was painful to watch,” Mark Washington, the Grand Rapids city manager, said. “And I immediately asked, ‘What caused this to happen, and what more could have been done to prevent this from occurring?’”

Even before the release of the footage, the case exposed longstanding tensions in Grand Rapids, a city of about 200,000 people where 18 percent of residents are Black. Activists aired their frustration and grief on Tuesday night during a City Commission meeting, speaking for hours about what they described as years of inaction on policing issues by Grand Rapids leaders, and then protested through the evening on Wednesday after the videos were released.

The investigation into the officer’s actions was ongoing, officials said on Wednesday, and no charging decision had been made. Chief Eric Winstrom of the Grand Rapids police said he was not aware of any weapons other than the officer’s gun and Taser being found at the scene. Police body camera video shows the officer telling Mr. Lyoya that he is pulling him over because his license plates do not match his car.

A New York Times investigation last fall revealed that American police officers, over the previous five years, had killed more than 400 motorists who were not wielding a gun or knife or under pursuit for a violent crime. The Times found that police culture and court precedents significantly overstated the danger to officers at vehicle stops.

Police killings of Black men have dominated national discussions about law enforcement in recent years, particularly after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020 touched off protests across the country, including in Grand Rapids.

Already this year, more than 250 people have been fatally shot by on-duty police officers nationwide, according to a Washington Post database, close to the pace from both 2020 and 2021, when more than 1,000 people were shot dead by the police.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VznlmA8fLoU


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2022/04/13/us/grand-rapids-police-shooting-michigan-patrick-lyoya.amp.html

Cold blooded murder. This cop executed this man because he was too weak to hold him down.
The Video shows police officer kneeling on Black man before fatally shooting him

US the hot bed of racism

This is the face of justice of the land some ediotic Africans can't stop referring to it's visa when commenting on issues on Nairaland because they are suffering from.mental Slavery and think all is bed and roses in the States.

Fact: you are more likely to be killed as a black man in America than anywhere else in the developed world.

Cc
Lalasticlala
Dominique
Seun

FP.

This is heartbreaking... this is wickedness...callousness...

Appleyard:
This is the face of justice of the land some ediotic Africans can't stop referring to it's visa when commenting on issues on Nairaland because they are suffering from.mental Slavery and think all is bed and roses in the States.

Fact: you are more likely to be killed as a black man in America than anywhere else in the developed world.

Not in support of what the police did but. are you saying that in Nigeria, if you struggle for a policeman's gun you won't be shot?

If yes, then go and try it with the nearest policeman to you.

Appleyard:
This is the face of justice of the land some ediotic Africans can't stop referring to it's visa when commenting on issues on Nairaland because they are suffering from.mental Slavery and think all is bed and roses in the States.

Fact: you are more likely to be killed as a black man in America than anywhere else in the developed world.

VictorUSA will avoid threads like this..

That guy won't mind going back to the era of the slave trade to America

JohnBullMySon:
Not in support of what the police did but. are you saying that in Nigeria, if you struggle for a policeman's gun you won't be shot?

If yes, then go and try it with the nearest policeman to you.

Don't be ridiculous. You watched the video, right? The officer aggravated the situation from start to finish. A non racist and professional officer with strong ethics would immediately douse the tension and deescalate the situation the moment he noticed the apprehension on the young man. This is one Blackman among many who have witnessed the murder of unarmed blackmen across the country in recent years, and very few wouldn't be apprehensive when they come in contact with the law.

And his fear was justified. The murderous officer never deescalated even though he could have done so easily. Rather, he went on the offensive. And the worst was when he shot the man.

Yes, the young man grabbles with the teaser, not the officer's gun.

When the young man was pinned down, with his face to the ground and his back to the officer, he had a second chance to deescalate or at least minimize the use of force even as he reached for his gun. He could have shot the man on the leg to immobilized him, but no; he just put his gun to the back of his head and fired straight without a second thought. That was cold blooded murder of someone that is not armed, except you're blind to reality.

Fact: if that young man was white, the chances that he still would have been alive is 85-100. But once a black man is involved, the police hardly missed an opportunity to kill.

Only plantation nig*ass defends this kind of cold blooded murder.

KillerCrocodile:
Cc
Lalasticlala
Dominique
Seun

FP.

And this news didn’t make FP, this guy was shot at the back of his head by a white cop.

And yet the US will go about condemning other countries of human rights violations.

Officer name unknown till now. What are they hiding?

JohnBullMySon:
Not in support of what the police did but. are you saying that in Nigeria, if you struggle for a policeman's gun you won't be shot?

If yes, then go and try it with the nearest policeman to you.

Have you seen the video from the passenger’s cell phone? Check twitter if you can.

He brought out the weapon and then BAM into his skull from behind , he could have stood up and point the gun at him to force him to surrender.

Or shoot him in the legs

Appleyard:


Don't be ridiculous. You watched the video, right? The officer aggravated the situation from start to finish. A non-racist and professional officer with strong ethics would immediately douse the tension and deescalate the situation the moment he noticed the apprehension of the young man. This is one Blackman among many who have witnessed the murder of unarmed black men across the country in recent years, and very few wouldn't be apprehensive when they come in contact with the law.

And his fear was justified. The murderous officer never deescalated even though he could have done so easily. Rather, he went on the offensive. And the worst was when he shot the man.

Yes, the young man grabbles with the teaser, not the officer's gun.

When the young man was pinned down, with his face to the ground and his back to the officer, he had a second chance to deescalate or at least minimize the use of force even as he reached for his gun. He could have shot the man in the leg to immobilize him, but no; he just put his gun to the back of his head and fired straight without a second thought. That was cold-blooded murder of someone that is not armed, except you're blind to reality.

Fact: if that young man was white, the chances that he still would have been alive is 85-100. But once a black man is involved, the police hardly missed an opportunity to kill.

Only plantation nig*ass defends this kind of cold-blooded murder.

Having been pulled over and issued citations or warnings quite a few times by the CHP and by sheriff's deputies due to my heavy foot on the gas pedal, I feel qualified to comment on this incident. I agree that the officer went overboard with his aggressive attitude right from the get-go when he pulled this man over, but to play devil's advocate, one wonders if the officer's aggression would have escalated like that if the driver had simply complied with the initial instruction to get back in the car as ordered. Bear in mind that this car was fitted with STOLEN license plates, which on its own was enough to raise the officer's adrenaline levels, and lead him to suspect the driver might have been an armed car thief.

Being nervous about a police encounter is no excuse for refusing to comply with REPEATED instructions during a traffic stop by a police officer. Immediate compliance by the driver would have calmed down the officer a great deal, even if the officer was indeed a racist who was looking for a chance to light up a black man. The second tragic mistake made by that driver was to try and run with his damn trousers halfway down his asz. He never stood a chance of escaping with his trousers sliding down to his knees as he tried to take off, and frankly, the man looked plain idiotic trying to run while dressed in such a moronic jailhouse-punk style that is sadly favored by so many young black men these days.

Finally, the driver sealed his fate by grappling with the officer and trying to take possession of his taser. If he was desperate enough to reach for the taser, then certainly he'd make a grab for the gun if the opportunity arose during that chaotic wrestling match. That crazed and violent reaction by the driver was the final trigger that gave the policeman all the excuse he needed to apply deadly force.

You may argue that the policeman may have opted to kill that black driver under the color of authority EVEN IF the driver complied with all orders peacefully, but to that contention, I would counter that the fight or flight reaction of the driver greatly increased the odds of a violent outcome to that traffic stop, as opposed to a simple arrest for driving a car bearing stolen plates.

Appleyard:
This is the face of justice of the land some ediotic Africans can't stop referring to it's visa when commenting on issues on Nairaland because they are suffering from.mental Slavery and think all is bed and roses in the States.

Fact: you are more likely to be killed as a black man in America than anywhere else in the developed world.

Africans are so unfortunate, naive and mentally foolish.

This is the time for every African especially Nigerians to show their disdain for the west. But as usual slaves would always be slaves just because of Visa l, Hollywood and media propaganda.

These unthinking Nigerians don't know that the likes of Britain, U.S and co would never allow their country have a good leader, as a good leader means the end to their imperialism and extortion in Nigeria. Yet they wail and cry over bad leadership in Nigeria but support the same people who ensures that we continue to have bad leaders

The reason why Folks like Buhari and co can shoot and jail protesters is because they know their masters in the west would turn a blind eye as long as their looting, Imperialism, brain drain is allowed to flourish.

paafin:


VictorUSA will avoid threads like this..

That guy won't mind going back to the era of the slave trade to America

the guy still dey hustle for admission for university of upper Iweka. Leave him be o.

bonechamberlain:
Africans are so unfortunate, naive and mentally foolish.

This is the time for every African especially Nigerians to show their disdain for the west. But as usual slaves would always be slaves just because of Visa l, Hollywood and media propaganda.

These unthinking Nigerians don't know that the likes of Britain, U.S and co would never allow their country have a good leader, as a good leader means the end to their imperialism and extortion in Nigeria. Yet they wail and cry over bad leadership in Nigeria but support the same people who ensures that we continue to have bad leaders

The reason why Folks like Buhari and co can shoot and jail protesters is because they know their masters in the west would turn a blind eye as long as their looting, Imperialism, brain drain is allowed to flourish.

Exactly.

paafin:


VictorUSA will avoid threads like this..

That guy won't mind going back to the era of the slave trade to America

He is very emotionally insecured.

YeyeGbami:


And this news didn’t make FP, this guy was shot at the back of his head by a white cop.

And yet the US will go about condemning other countries of human rights violations.

Officer name unknown till now. What are they hiding?

The mods in this section are pro-west and heavily bias.

The concept of equality and social justice you watched on Hollywood or read in textbooks regarding the United States is a fallacy. The system is heavily rigged along racial lines as such that white supremacy is a premodinantly 'covert' norm that inherently prevails in the adjudication of law and justice. Only ediot believe in what America preaches to other nations. They don't do it.