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House Dems renew call for police reform in aftermath of Breonna Taylor grand jury decision
Michigan Reps. Tenisha Yancey (D-Harper Woods), Tyrone Carter (D-Detroit), Cynthia Johnson (D-Detroit), and Yousef Rabhi (D-Ann Arbor) Thursday renewed their call to end qualified immunity when applied to law enforcement excessive force cases. “Unfortunately, some officers have abused this protection, using it as an impenetrable shield to escape justice when they commit heinous acts,” Yancey […]
Activists demand officer who killed Lyoya be convicted, GRPD make more changes
Activists in Grand Rapids say there won’t be justice for 26-year-old Patrick Lyoya, a Black man who was shot and killed by a Grand Rapids police officer in April, until that officer is convicted for second degree murder. Last week, Officer Christopher Schurr was charged with one count of second degree murder for killing Lyoya […]
Officer will be charged in death of Patrick Lyoya, Kent County prosecutor announces
On Thursday afternoon, Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker announced Officer Christopher Schurr will be charged with one count of second degree murder for shooting and killing 26-year-old Patrick Lyoya during a traffic stop. Schurr has reportedly turned himself in and will be arraigned in the 61st District Court in Grand Rapids tomorrow, Becker said. Benjamin […]
In wake of Lyoya’s death, a reckoning with Grand Rapids’ history of police brutality
The day before Grand Rapids officials released the video of Grand Rapids Police Department Officer Christopher Schurr shooting and killing Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old unarmed Black man, police began erecting concrete barricades around the department’s headquarters in downtown Grand Rapids. The barriers, a police spokeswoman said at the time, were a “precaution” as police prepared […]
‘This was a human rights issue’: Over 1,000 people gather to mourn Lyoya, call for justice
A packed church of more than 1,000 people from across the world on Friday mourned and celebrated the life of Patrick Lyoya with prayers, song and a call for justice. “I come here today to … tell you this can not end today,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who delivered the eulogy at Lyoya’s funeral […]
Independent autopsy shows Lyoya was shot by officer, gun was likely pressed to his head
Attorneys for the Patrick Lyoya family released Tuesday the findings of an independent autopsy performed by a world-renowned forensic pathology expert, Werner Spitz. Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Black man, was fatally shot in the back of the head by a white Grand Rapids police officer on April 4. The Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) released […]
‘A moment that feels all too sickeningly familiar’
After the Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) released Wednesday several videos showing an unnamed officer fatally shooting Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Black immigrant, on April 4, state leaders and activists have shared their condolences and calls for change. “Patrick Lyoya immigrated to the United States from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to pursue the […]
‘My heart couldn’t take it’: Two years into the pandemic in Michigan, a focus on healing
Molly Nixon’s heart couldn’t take it anymore. The day she decided to leave her job as a nurse at Mercy Health in Muskegon, she dissolved into tears because she knew the three COVID-19 patients she was caring for that day were going to die. “I’d briefly met my three patients, and there was the realization […]
Column: Today’s ‘civil war’ is an attack on the rule of law
There is a civil war underway in America. It’s not the same sort of war we fought more than 150 years ago, when Americans took sides on whether slavery was good or evil, donned blue and gray uniforms, then slaughtered each other on the battlefield. This is a war that’s happening in slow-motion, a largely […]
‘A celebratory movement’: Detroiters advocate for reparations ballot proposal
When Todd Perkins thinks of reparations for systemic racial discrimination in Detroit, he dreams not just of atonement, but of hope. The Detroit attorney, who has long been pushing for reparations in the city where he grew up, dreams of a chance to finally acknowledge the pain that runs deep amidst institutional racism, from housing […]