GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A few hours after Officer Christopher Schurr's name was released, identifying him as the officer who shot and killed Patrick Lyoya, a group marched downtown to the Grand Rapids Police Department. They continued calls for Schurr to be charged in Lyoya's death.
While some community members were glad to see transparency from the police department, there's a call for accountability now too, as activists want Schurr to be charged and prosecuted.
"We'd like to see Christopher Schurr arrested," says Nicko with Black Activists United. "We want to see him behind bars."
"Justice won't be served unless our voices are gonna be heard," says Bri with Black Activists United. "Our voices as a community have a big play and a big part in this as well. So everyone needs to hear what we have to say."
Black Activists United members say the police department released Schurr's name too late.
"(The department) should have been transparent from the very beginning," Olabanji Olatunde with Black Activists United says.
"Honestly, they only released the name because we already knew it. It looked bad on their part. And they knew that," Nicko says. "So they were like, 'Oh, let's release the name.' We're not impressed."
RELATED: 'Insult to injury': Leaders react to identification of GRPD officer who killed Patrick Lyoya
The Grand Rapids Police Department usually doesn't release someone's name unless they're charged. Criminal Defense Attorney Kelly G. Lambert III says that policy often doesn't apply to everyone.
"It's not unusual that names are released. If I were involved in a crime, or you or the average citizen out there, our names would be in the paper," Lambert says.
While he says everyone is innocent until proven guilty, he believes that transparency should've come first in this case.
"Absent that, it appears that there's some type of cover up. It gives that impression, even if there's none," he says. "I'm not saying there is, but I am saying it gives that impression, and that's dangerous."
Western Michigan University Cooley Law School professor and retired MSP detective Lewis Langham agrees that perception likely played a role in the release of Schurr's name.
"I don't know how helpful it was going to be towards the case itself. His name was always going to come out," Langham says.
He believes that the delay gave the Schurr family time to prepare, and he's not sure how it will benefit the shooting investigation.
"Well, now they have it now. It's like, what are you gonna do with it? It's really nothing to do with the name at this particular point, a name that was always going to come out anyway," he says. "I think it has probably who knows more to do with 'Well, now that we have the name, let's see if other folks are going to give us a call and say he was a great guy or bad guy.'"
"(Christopher Schurr is) wanted by the people, as I have said many times, justice won't come at the will of the oppressor but by the will of the oppressed," Olatunde says.
This group plans to march until they see Officer Schurr prosecuted and convicted.
"We want him to actually have to live with what he did right now. He's on vacation right now," Nicko says. "He's living lavish. That's not okay."
Community activists are expected to go to Tuesday night's Grand Rapids city commission meeting, like earlier this month, to speak to city leaders during public comment.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.