GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Community members are gathering in downtown Grand Rapids Saturday to call for justice for Patrick Lyoya a day after his funeral.
Lyoya was killed Monday, April 4 during a traffic stop near the intersection of Griggs Street and Nelson Avenue SE in Grand Rapids.
Authorities said a GRPD officer initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle with a faulty license plate. Lyoya, who was driving the vehicle, fled from police on foot.
After a physical struggle with the officer, Lyoya was shot and killed.
After the incident, Lyoya’s family and the community called for videos of the shooting to be released. GRPD released them on April 13, including video from a body-worn camera, a police dash camera, a neighbor's surveillance system and cell phone video from a witness.
The independent autopsy report showed that Lyoya was shot in the back of the head during the traffic stop.
Now, nearly three weeks after Lyoya’s death, the officer who killed Lyoya has not been identified. GRPD says their name will not be released at this time.
This decision has led to backlash both from the Lyoya family, community members and national leaders. During Lyoya’s funeral, Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy and demanded the name of the officer be released.
“It’s trouble when you can shoot people in the head and remain anonymous," he said during the ceremony.
Sharpton also called for a federal investigation into Lyoya's death and said that withholding the officer's name sets a bad precedent on a national scale.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the Lyoya family, says he's talked with President Joe Biden's administration about the Lyoya case, but did not go into detail about those conversations.
In the weeks after the shooting, community members and the Lyoya family have taken to the streets of Grand Rapids to call for justice and demand the name of the officer be released.
The investigation is being handled by the Michigan State Police. Once their investigation is complete, their findings will be given to the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office for the next steps in the investigation.
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