Speaking during a press conference, city manager Mark Washington expressed his condolences to the family of Patrick Loya and referred to the video as “painful to watch.” The department released the police body camera, dashboard camera, cell phone and home surveillance system from the fatal incident. Police said before the press conference that neither the videos nor the audio had been processed. Some video images have been modified or blurred to ensure privacy. The incident started shortly after 8 a.m. on April 4, when police said they dragged a vehicle to stop traffic. The driver, now known as Lyoya, got out of the vehicle and at some point ran, Grand Rapids police said at the time. “There was a long fight, I was told it was over a minute and a half or two,” said Police Chief Eric Winstrom. “During the fight, the officer’s gun was fired, killing the man,” he added. The Lyoya family moved from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United States in 2014 and has been working with its representative, Pastor Israel Siku, since Patrick’s death. Siku’s first language is Swahili and he also acts as an interpreter for the Lyoyas. He told CNN he was with Lyoya’s father a few days after the shooting when police were called to watch the video of the shooting. Sikou described his father’s reaction when he saw the video: “He melted, he had nothing to say. He almost fainted.” At a community forum Sunday, Siku told a crowded church, “I saw the video, I could not sleep.” “The boy was on the floor, the policeman lying on top of him, lifting his gun and shooting him in the head and back. Patrick did not move,” he added. There have been many protests and rallies on behalf of Lyoya. On Tuesday afternoon, dozens of people demanded justice as they gathered outside a Municipal Committee meeting. During the nearly five-hour meeting, 74 of the 75 members of the public who spoke expressed their anger and grief over Lyoya’s death. In a statement to CNN, Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss said in part: “We all work through a range of emotions, from anger to confusion and sadness, but I’m confident as a community that we are also patient and steadfast in our commitment. to get to the truth “.
Michigan police are investigating
Civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump – who has represented high-profile victims of police violence – was detained by the Lyoya family and pushed for all available videos to be released. “It reminds us once again how quickly a police interaction can be deadly to blacks in America and how far we have to go to change that,” Crump said. The investigation was handed over to Michigan police shortly after the shooting, Grand Rapids police said. The state agency confirmed to CNN that it was conducting an investigation at the request of the department and that it was an “active, ongoing investigation”. Once completed, it will be handed over to the county attorney for possible charges. Kent County Attorney Christopher Becker told CNN that no decision has been made on the officer, as the investigation has not been completed. As for the upcoming release of the video, he said, “They have to do what they think best and I’re not going to criticize it.” In a statement issued on April 7, he said, “In order to maintain the integrity of this investigation, I have asked the police services involved not to disclose any information until the investigation is completed.” The Grand Rapids Police Department said both Michigan police and Becker were aware of the release. The results of the ongoing investigation will also be given to Chief of Police Grand Rapids and to the Department of Home Affairs, Winstrom said in a statement. “This is a lethal use of force. The test of lethal force is that the officer is entitled to use lethal force when defending himself against a reasonable threat of death or serious bodily harm,” Winstrom said shortly after the shooting. “This is going to be the test that the Michigan State Police use when they first look at it. And this is going to be the same test that I use to look at after we get our investigation.”
