United States: Protest in Michigan after a white policeman killed a black man
Protesters march along Monroe Center NW after Grand Rapids Police released video of the shooting death of Patrick Lyoya in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich. on Wednesday, April 13, 2022. The black man 26-year-old was fatally shot by a white Michigan police officer on April 4.
© Joel Bissel, PA
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Several dozen demonstrators gathered on the evening of Wednesday April 13 in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the northern United States, after the publication of videos showing the death of a young black man, killed by a white police officer.
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One of the four videos of the tragedy - which occurred on April 4 - shows the policeman lying on the back of Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Congolese, before he shot him, in all likelihood, in the head.
An altercation between Patrick Lyoya and the policeman had broken out after a traffic stop, and shortly before the shooting, the two men appeared to be struggling on the ground to take control of the policeman's electric gun.
His name has not been revealed.
The police camera video shows the policeman arresting Patrick Lyoya because of his license plates.
According to images from the local ABC channel, several dozen people gathered in downtown Grand Rapids, a Michigan city of some 200,000 people, 18% of whom are African-Americans.
The demonstrators carried signs
"
Black Lives Matter
"
("
black lives matter
"), and chanted "
no justice, no peace
".
Activists had expressed their frustration and grief Tuesday, April 12, at a City Commission meeting, speaking for hours about what they described as years of inaction by Grand Rapids leaders on policing issues.
“
Useless
, excessive and fatal use of force
”
“
I consider this a tragedy
,” Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom said of the April 4 event at a press conference Wednesday where the videos were released.
I will release the video from Monday's officer involved shooting no later than noon on Friday, April 15th pic.twitter.com/y9kBz9FH3d
— Chief Eric Winstrom (@GRChiefWinstrom) April 8, 2022
“
The loss of a life, regardless of the circumstances, is sad, and I know it will impact our city
,” he added.
“
The video clearly shows that this was a useless, excessive and fatal use of force against an unarmed and terrified black man for his life
,” said Ben Crump, a lawyer for the Lyoya family.
He asked that the agent be fired and prosecuted.
American society has been rocked in recent years by the deaths of black men killed by police, particularly after a white police officer in Minneapolis knelt on the neck of African American George Floyd in 2020.
The images of
the death of George Floyd,
in the street face against the ground, and after he had repeatedly repeated that he could no longer breathe, had shocked the whole world.
His name had thus become, alongside others, an emblem of the
Black Lives Matter
movement during the major anti-racist demonstrations of 2020.
The Grand Rapids police officer has been placed on paid leave pending the results of the Michigan State Police investigation, Eric Winstrom said.
He joined the department in 2015.
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