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<\/a><\/p>\nMichigan Police lay on the back of Lyoya fatally shot him on the head. <\/span>A Black man face-down on the ground was fatally shot in the back of the head by a Michigan police officer, the violent climax of a traffic stop, brief foot chase and struggle over a stun gun, according to videos of the April 4 incident released Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n Lyoya was killed outside a house in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The white officer repeatedly ordered Lyoya to \u201clet go\u201d of his Taser, at one point demanding: \u201cDrop the Taser!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Citing a need for transparency, the city\u2019s new police chief, Eric Winstrom, released four videos, including critical footage of the shooting recorded by a passenger in Lyoya\u2019s car on that rainy morning.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI view it as a tragedy. \u2026 It was a progression of sadness for me,\u201d said Winstrom, a former high-ranking Chicago police commander who became Grand Rapids chief in March. The city of about 200,000 people is about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of Detroit.<\/span><\/p>\n Video shows Lyoya running from the officer who stopped him for driving with a license plate that didn\u2019t belong to the vehicle. They struggled in front of several homes while Lyoya\u2019s passenger got out and watched.<\/span><\/p>\n Winstrom said the fight over the Taser lasted about 90 seconds. In the final moments, the officer was on top of Lyoya, kneeling on his back at times to subdue him.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFrom my view of the video, Taser was deployed twice. Taser did not make contact,\u201d Winstrom told reporters. \u201cAnd Lyoya was shot in the head. However, that\u2019s the only information that I have.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n State police are investigating the shooting. Kent County\u2019s chief medical examiner, Dr. Stephen Cohle, said he completed the autopsy but toxicology tests haven\u2019t been finished.<\/span><\/p>\n The traffic stop was tense from the start. Video shows Lyoya, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, getting out of the car before the officer approached. He ordered Lyoya to get back in the vehicle but the man declined.<\/span><\/p>\n The officer asked him if he spoke English and demanded his driver\u2019s license. The foot chase began soon after, video shows.<\/span><\/p>\n Winstrom didn\u2019t identify the officer, a seven-year veteran who is on paid leave during the investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMe being from Chicago for the last 20 years, I\u2019ve handled many police shootings myself, so I do have a lot of experience in this,\u201d the chief said. \u201cI was hoping to never have to utilize that experience here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Video was collected from Lyoya\u2019s passenger, the officer\u2019s body-worn camera, the officer\u2019s patrol car and a doorbell camera. Prosecutor Chris Becker, who will decide whether any charges are warranted, objected to the release but said Winstrom could act on his own.<\/span><\/p>\n Becker said the public shouldn\u2019t expect a quick decision.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhile the videos released today are an important piece of evidence, they are not all of the evidence,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n City Manager Mark Washington warned that the videos would lead to \u201cexpressions of shock, of anger and of pain.\u201d Some downtown businesses boarded up their storefronts, and concrete barricades surrounded police headquarters.<\/span><\/p>\n Lyoya had two young daughters and five siblings, said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who spoke to his family.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe arrived in the United States as a refugee with his family fleeing violence. He had his whole life ahead of him,\u201d Whitmer, a Democrat, said.<\/span><\/p>\n Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, speaking on behalf Lyoya\u2019s family, on Wednesday called for the officer in the shooting to be fired and prosecuted.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe 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,\u201d Crump said in a release.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt should be noted that Patrick never used violence against this officer even though the officer used violence against him in several instances for what was a misdemeanor traffic stop,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n Crump and Lyoya\u2019s family are expected to hold a news conference Thursday afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n More than 100 people marched to Grand Rapids City Hall before a City Commission meeting Tuesday night, chanting \u201cBlack lives matter\u201d and \u201cNo justice, no peace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n On Wednesday, several hundred protesters gathered outside the Grand Rapids Police Department following the release of the videos with some cursing and shouting from behind barricades. The group demanded that officials make public the name of the officer in the shooting.<\/span><\/p>\n Some businesses cut their hours short Wednesday, closing early. Some boarded up windows. But the demonstration remained non-violent with protesters demanding justice for Lyoya and other Black lives lost in shootings involving police.<\/span><\/p>\n Winstrom last week said he met Lyoya\u2019s father, Peter Lyoya, and that they both cried.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI get it as a father. \u2026 It\u2019s just heart-wrenching,\u201d the chief told WOOD-TV.<\/span><\/p>\n As in many U.S. cities, Grand Rapids police have been occasionally criticized over the use of force, particularly against Black people, who make up 18% of the population.<\/span><\/p>\n In November, the Michigan Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit over the practice of photographing and fingerprinting people who were never charged with a crime. Grand Rapids said the policy changed in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n A downtown street has been designated Breonna Taylor Way, named for the Black woman and Grand Rapids native who was killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky, during a botched drug raid in 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n CERTAINLY, Good journalism costs a lot of money. Without doubt, only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government. We are ready to hold every corrupt government accountable to the citizens.<\/b> To continually enjoy free access to the best investigative journalism in Nigeria, we are requesting of you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavor.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n Your donation is voluntary \u2014 please decide how much and how often you want to give. For offline donation, email: letters@nigeriastandardnewspaper.com or call +2348037128048 (Nigeria) or +16825834890 (United States of America)<\/b><\/p>\n [pff-paystack id=<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" RACISM & Seeking for JUSTICE: White Michigan Police fatally shot in the head a Congolese African Refugee man, PATRICK LYOYA over Traffic Violation \u2026 26-year-old deceased begged for freedom in last moment, shunned by officer, killed outside a house in Grand Rapids *\u2018We are calling for the officer in the shooting to be fired and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-crime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}By contributing to NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all without fear or favor.<\/b><\/h1>\n