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Sen. Runestad defends police shooting Lyoya, mocks reporters as ‘leftist handmaidens’
The Michigan Senate was abuzz with floor speeches on Tuesday. State Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) openly mocked and denounced media coverage of a police shooting of an unarmed Black man in Grand Rapids — naming one Detroit Free Press reporter in particular. And state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) slammed state Sen. Lana Theis […]
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 […]
‘We’re sick and tired of this’: Protesters continue to march for justice for Lyoya
Taylor Minor stood up through the sunroof of a car as a protest for Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Black man who was fatally shot in the head earlier this month by a Grand Rapids police officer, marched past Friday evening. “No justice, no peace,” Minor, 25, of Grand Rapids, chanted with the crowd. Within minutes, […]
Grand Rapids protesters call for justice after police officer fatally shot Lyoya
Hundreds of people took to the streets in Grand Rapids this week after a Grand Rapids police officer fatally shot Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Black man, earlier this month. “It has been a tough situation and a traumatizing situation,” said Jimmy Barwan, Lyoya’s older brother, who was present at the peaceful protests Tuesday and Wednesday. […]
Michigan Advance wins 2022 Public Service Award, 22 total Michigan Press Association honors
The Michigan Advance has won 22 Michigan Press Association (MPA) awards in its 2022 “News Media Publication of the Year” contest, including placing first in the Public Service Award for “Loss, strain and hope mark the next phase of the COVID pandemic.” Anna Gustafson, Susan J. Demas, Allison R. Donahue, Ken Coleman and Laina G. […]
Sen. Santana reintroduces bill establishing Juneteenth as state-recognized holiday
After years of attempting to pass bills that would honor Black history in Michigan, state Sen. Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit) reintroduced legislation on Wednesday that would establish Juneteenth as a state-recognized holiday. Santana introduced Senate Bill 50 on the first day of Black History Month after attempts to pass similar legislation in 2020 and 2021 under […]
‘Just not The Diatribe’
Updated, 9:00 a.m., 1/27/23 When Marcel “Fable” Price, the executive director of The Diatribe, a Grand Rapids Black and LGBTQ+-run art and creative center for youth, saw their proposal to receive federal COVID-19 relief funding through Kent County ranked in the top 12 of more than 300 proposals countywide, he felt hopeful that they would […]
Civil rights department files discrimination charges against Grand Rapids police
The Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) filed formal charges of discrimination against the Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) in two separate complaints. During a press conference Monday morning in Grand Rapids, John E. Johnson, Jr., MDCR executive director, said the charges officially levied last Wednesday are a “significant step in our ongoing investigations into […]
Michigan Supreme Court finds Grand Rapids Police fingerprinting policy unconstitutional
On Friday the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that a now discontinued Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) policy of fingerprinting and photographing individuals not charged with a crime is unconstitutional. The unanimous decision determined that the GRPD violated the Fourth Amendment rights of two Black teenagers when, in separate incidents, the teens were stopped by police, […]
In an effort to make Pride safer, Grand Rapids Pride Center announces no police will be at festival
Two years ago, as calls for racial justice were ignited across the country in the wake of a white Minneapolis police officer murdering George Floyd, a group of activists called on the Grand Rapids Pride Center to take a hard look at itself. “The group of BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of color] activists called […]