Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who plans to hold a press conference with Lyoya’s family on Thursday, said in a statement that Lyoya immigrated to the US from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in search of the American dream and to “provide a better and safer life for himself and his family.” Lyoya was father to two young children, his family said.
“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, adding that Lyoya “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 the family is demanding that the officer be fired as well as arrested and prosecuted for killing Lyoya.
The police chief said that due to the state police’s ongoing investigation, he would not be drawing any conclusions at this time about whether the officer violated the department’s use of force policy or committed any crimes. But when asked whether the use of a Taser against an officer would constitute the potential of “great bodily harm” that may warrant the officer to use deadly force, Winstrom said it could be.
“That’s a complicated question,” he said during the press conference Wednesday. “It would have the potential to cause great bodily harm, but not necessarily, and that’s depending on all the facts of the case.”
It’s unclear from the videos whether Lyoya ever had full control of the Taser. Later in the struggle, the officer’s body-worn camera turned off, likely due to the pressure of Lyoya’s body or of some other object, Winstrom said.
The officer’s Taser and his firearm were the only weapons identified at the scene. The Taser was deployed twice but did not make contact with anyone, the chief said.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Michigan Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist said he was “heartbroken” over Lyoya’s killing.
“Black people in Grand Rapids, in Michigan, and across the country are mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted from generations of struggle,” Gilchrist said, as he called on people to “recommit” themselves to create an equal and just society “where every interaction within our community, especially those with law enforcement, end with everyone able to return home to their families without harm.”
“It is critical now to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation to achieve justice, deliver accountability, and understand what happened, for Patrick Lyoya’s family as expeditiously as possible,” he continued.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson called Lyoya’s killing “horrifying, heartbreaking, and deeply frustrating,” especially in light of Congress’s failure to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The legislation aimed to combat police brutality and better hold police accountable for their actions.
“An unregistered license plate should not be a death sentence,” Johnson said in a statement. “Another Black man has died at the hands of police, and the officer in this video has got to be held accountable.”
Winstrom declined to make a connection between Lyoya’s death and the killing of Floyd, whose murder by a Minneapolis police who knelt on him in May 2020 sparked massive global protests against police brutality.
“I view it as a tragedy,” he said. “The loss of life in any circumstance is sad and when I know that it’s going to impact our city like this, it was more sad.”
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/skbaer/patrick-lyoya-killing-videos-grand-rapids-police
