Patrick Lyoya: Police under pressure to release video of shooting death
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A prominent civil rights attorney is joining the community to demand the release of body cam video after a man was shot and killed by an officer during a traffic stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Patrick Lyoya, 26, was shot by a Grand Rapids officer who he fought with, Grand Rapids police said, after the officer stopped his vehicle Monday over a license plate issue.
"Every Black family lives in fear that a routine traffic stop will turn deadly," Attorney Ben Crump said in a statement posted on Twitter. "Patrick's fate is the nightmare we live with every day. It is essential that all video evidence be made public as soon as possible so that we can see with our own eyes and hear with our own ears what happened to Patrick. Full transparency is the only way to regain community trust."
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Crump has been called Black America’s attorney general for his unwavering work on civil rights cases, especially those involving Black people killed by police. He’s been involved in many high-profile cases including Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Michael Brown and Breonna Taylor.
On Sunday, Crump joined protestors for a march during which Lyoya’s family members called for public release of video from the confrontation.
Marchers chanted "show the video!" and "we want the world to know!" in pushing for Grand Rapids police to release body and dash camera video of the shooting.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom said Friday that he intended to release the video in the coming week while "protecting the integrity of the investigation in the interests of justice and accountability."
Lyoya’s father, Peter Lyoya, said the family immigrated from the African country of Congo in search of a better life.
"The world needs to know the truth. People need to fight for justice for Patrick," Lyoya said through an interpreter.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.