After a young man died during a police encounter in Grand Rapids, Michigan, experts reviewed video of the incident and shared their perspectives.
RELATED: Patrick Lyoya's death sparks protests in Grand Rapids
The Grand Rapids police officer who killed motorist Patrick Lyoya missed several opportunities to peacefully resolve the encounter, according to policing and civil rights experts. So did Lyoya, some of them said.
Lyoya, 26, died April 4 after being shot in the head. He had attempted to run from the officer who stopped him. The pair wrestled on the ground during a struggle over the officer's stun gun, before the officer pulled his pistol and fired the fatal shot.
Grand Rapids police released video of the incident this week, prompting protests in Grand Rapids and renewing calls for police reforms in Michigan and beyond. The Michigan State Police are investigating the officer's actions in the shooting. His name has not been released.
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#PatrickLyoya #GrandRapids #PoliceShooting
Serious physical harm by grabbing the taser and never obeying instructions
💯
“How far is he going to run?”, he asked. _Quite possibly into one of those houses, taking someone hostage._
You truly are a Florida son. Delusional 😂
with what his finger karren
Lorenzo Boyd (3:45): “So the guy’s running. You have his car.” Dude’s a convicted car thief, driving a car with a non-matching plate. IT’S PROBABLY NOT HIS CAR! “In there, you see his wallet.” BOYD saw a wallet? I didn’t see no wallet. (It might have been there, but we couldn’t see it because they blurred the passenger. The investigation will tell.) The only thing I “saw” was Lyoya stalling for time, then running when the stall didn’t work.
Cops are paid to take bad people off the streets, not let them flee until a more opportune time. Lyoya didn’t HAVE to die, but he certainly CHOSE to die. His blood is on HIS OWN head.
Facts 👏👏👏👏👍
Truth. I would give this officer a commendation.
Michael Steinberg (4:27) “I think it’s worth noting … that the officer is using violence against the suspect. At this point, Mr. Lyoya is not posing a threat of harm, imminent or otherwise, to anybody else, he’s just trying to get away.” Where is it written in the Constitution or any law that subjects of lawful police investigations have a “right to get away”? If we start demanding that police just let subjects / suspects “get away,” you’re going to find that more than a few of those people are either suspects in major crimes that have already been committed, or they will commit more serious crimes later.
Mr. Steinberg is a putz.
Lyoya is an active resistor not an active aggressor. The difference is huge.
Michael Steinberg (4:54) “The passenger’s trying to de-escalate, and calm the officer down.” You mean by lying to him?! “He’s not resisting! He don’t got no taser!” Or by rooting for Lyoya?! “You’re good, man!”
He’s not “trying to de-escalate,” he’s verbally interfering with a lawful arrest.
Lorenzo Boyd (8:17): “Now he’s giving directives to the passenger, but has done nothing with the driver. And the passenger actually did nothing that I think would have warranted this.”
1. The threat posed by the driver has been neutralized … what do you WANT the cop to do?
2. Even though the driver did nothing either non-cooperative, non–compliant, or resistive, he is still an unknown quantity at this point. The only thing the cops know is, he’s an associate of Lyoya, who has proven himself to be a criminal suspect. The passenger may be armed. There may be a weapon in the vehicle. Until the passenger is patted down and arrested, these and other related circumstances can’t be determined.
Michael Steinberg (8:41) “The standard that the Supreme Court has set is, deadly force is only appropriate when a suspect poses an imminent significant threat of death or serious physical harm either to the officer or to others.” Lyoya had gained exclusive control of the LEO’s taser, and was trying to stand up with the cop on his back. You can actually see Lyoya raise the cop’s empty right hand and both feet off the ground, leaving his left hand the only point of contact with the ground. Lyoya could have used the LEO’s taser on him, then disarmed him of his pistol. And given his actions up to that point, that would be a very reasonable concern for the cop.
(Have I mentioned that this Steinberg bozo is quite the putz??)
@Panhandle Frank The TASER actually has a “back up shot” and can be fired again.
@BILL S Yes. I’ve never handled one, but my understanding is they have two cartridges of prongs that can be effective “at distance.” Some (like our friend Jim, above) have suggested that, since the taser had already been fired twice, it was no longer a threat to the LEO.
But even if both cartridges had been fired, it still has “drive stun” capability.
@Panhandle Frank, hey Einstein, the officer deployed the taser ineffectively twice so both cartridges were spent, and drive-stun mode is useful as a pain compliance tool but is ineffective for incapacitation, so again, where’s the imminent threat that justified the summary execution?
@Jim Wheeler I can only _explain it_ to you. I can’t _understand it for_ you.
@Panhandle Frank, hey Einstein, what part of the fact that the taser cartridges were spent and that drive-stun mode is only useful as a pain compliance tool and is ineffective for incapacitation do you NOT understand?
You know they’re mega dirty when they’re out of the car before the cop……….
Nobody is talking about the language barrier. I think it was clear that Lyoya didn’t have a very good understanding of English, and that made it very difficult for the officer to communicate with him, which may have made all the difference. Lyoya kept saying “what I do?” as if he didn’t understand what the cop was telling him. This is a big reason why we need to make sure that immigrants learn English to a passable level
There was no language barrier. Lyoya was playing dumb because this was his fourth time getting caught with a stolen car.
Blacks with police never ENDS! 🤷🏻♂️
For those wondering, most police TASERs have a second shot or they have contact points. So they can be used a second time. The fact that the TASER had been fired does not mean it was not a threat to the officer.
@Jim Wheeler drive stun can still incapacitate for a few seconds. Long enough to grab the cop’s gun.
@David Lewis not sure you used proper english or grammar. I’m not able to understand your comment.
@michaelxwhite the english on Jackson prison yard that officer will understand that really well and i’ll put $2,000 on that ,my old world my playground years ago ,anther cop bights the dust did I spell that out right 400 years of slavery turned around shoe on the other foot thank god
@David Lewis clearly, you don’t have a grasp on grammar. I’m unable to comprehend gibberish.
5:15 “he’s not resisting” 🤔🤔😩😩😤😤iam pretty sure he does
Can we talk about the 3 people that shot the Uber driver in Warren, Michigan 3 times? Black on white crime rampant.
Wrong video.
Many times have the media pushes this narrative
It has been said that police officers should learn Spanish in order to relate better to the community. What about the language this man speaks? If the officer learned that language, would it have helped the situation?
He understood English fine. He was driving a stolen car. Not his first time.
Please don’t riot this summer.
all i know is when that officer hits Jackson prison yard my old play ground it’s a rap no one can save him guards will turn their heads for alittle change $ life will be hell on earth in there will be no place for him except p.c the hole 24 hour lock down and stuff still happens he may slip in the shower and bust his 5 or 6 times ooops no cameras are working and life will go on like that for years for him my people inthere take care of business their way…………..
Not gonna happen. Officer did his job.
Just once, I would like to see a video where the person pulled over by the police listens to each command and still gets hurt.
Captain hindsight to the rescue here. 🙄
I agreed with the officer up to a point. But it did not have to end with a gunshot to the back of the head. Probably this will end up with ab officer conviction because of WHERE he shot the guy.
But no it was quite far from an execution. Had he shot him somewhere else in the body, Lyoya would be alive this would be a much closer call and perhaps wind up with a justified shooting like in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
It doesn’t matter where he shot him. It was self defense. Just like Kenosha.