A black man was shot in the back of the head by a white cop during a struggle over the officer’s Taser following a traffic stop.
Gatekeepers News reports that Michigan police have released footage of the incident on Wednesday following calls for justice as the family’s high-profile attorney claimed ‘unnecessary, excessive used of force was used.’
The videos released were taken from the dashboard of the officer’s squad car, from his body-worn camera and from a neighbour’s surveillance camera.
The footage showed 26-year-old Patrick Lyoya, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, facedown on the ground as he is fatally shot by the officer in Grand Rapids on April 4.
The newly released footage also shows the moments leading up to the shooting, including the traffic stop over suspicions involving Lyoya’s license plate, which led to a brief foot chase and struggle over the cop’s Taser.
It is not clear from any of the videos if or when Lyoya tried to grab the cop’s Taser, but the cop is heard yelling at him to let go of the device, which was deployed twice, but didn’t strike anyone, officials said.
Lyoya’s family have retained prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has been dubbed ‘Black America’s Attorney General’. He also represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Aubrey and Trayvon Martin. He is calling for the officer to be fired and prosecuted.
“The video clearly shows that this was an unnecessary, excessive, and fatal use of force against an unarmed black man who was confused by the encounter and terrified for his life,’ Crump said in a release.
“It should be noted that Patrick never used violence against this officer even though the officer used violence against him in several instances for what was a misdemeanour traffic stop,” he added.
Grand Rapids police officials have placed the officer, a seven-year veteran who has not been named publicly, on administrative leave and have asked the Michigan State Police to investigate the shooting.
Kent County’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Stephen Cohle, said he completed the autopsy but toxicology tests have not been finished.
Prosecutors in Kent County told CNN on Wednesday that they will make a decision on possible criminal charges once the Michigan State Police investigation is complete.
