Police shooting in Michigan sparks protest

Four videos released Wednesday show views of a traffic stop in which a police officer shot and killed Patrick Lyoya, 26, on April 4 in Grand Rapids, Mich. The officer pulled over Lyoya, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, for having a license plate that didn’t belong to the vehicle he was driving. Police chief Eric Winstrom released footage from the police car dashboard camera, the officer’s body camera, a nearby home security camera, and the vehicle passenger’s cellphone. He did not identify the officer, who has been placed on paid leave. More than 100 people marched to City Hall on Wednesday in protest.

What do the videos show? As the officer approaches, Lyoya gets out of the car. The officer tells him to get back in, asks if he speaks English, and demands his license. Lyoya runs around the back of the car and starts to flee, and the officer catches up to him and tries to tackle him. During their approximately 90-second struggle, the officer fired his Taser twice and missed, Winstrom said. Lyoya can be heard saying “OK” to the officer’s commands, but he does not visibly stop resisting the officer’s attempts to subdue him. The passenger yells, “He’s good. You can talk to him,” and the officer repeatedly tells Lyoya to let go of the Taser. The struggle ends with the officer shooting Lyoya in the head. 

Dig deeper: Read Charissa Koh’s article in Compassion on police reform at the local level.