Emotional Peter Lioja, right, Patrick Lioja’s father, closes his eyes during the “Justice for Patrick Lioja” march in Grand Rapids, Michigan, April 9. Daniel Schular | MLive.com/Associated Press
A Michigan police officer is fighting a black man before fatally shooting him in the back while the driver is on the ground, according to videos of the April 4 shooting on Wednesday.
Police in Grand Rapids, Michigan, released four videos, including footage from a cell phone showing the shooting of Patrick Lioya after a traffic stop was recorded by a passenger in Lioya’s car.
The video shows 26-year-old Leia fleeing the scene after a police officer stopped him for violating the registration number. They struggled on the front lawn of several houses in the Grand Rapids neighborhood.
Before the videos were released, city manager Mark Washington warned that they would lead to public “expressions of shock, anger and pain.”
More than 100 people marched to Grand Rapids City Hall ahead of Tuesday night’s City Commission meeting, chanting “Black Life Matters” and “No Justice, No Peace.”
There is a moment of silence as two activists play out how Mr. Leia’s family says he was killed at the end of the April 9 march. Daniel Schular | MLive.com/Associated Press
“The video contains strong language as well as graphic images leading to loss of life. Audience discretion is recommended, “said Police Chief Eric Winstrom.
Last week, Winstrom said he had met Lioja’s father, Peter Lioja, and that they were both crying.
“I understand him as a father. … It’s just heartbreaking, “the boss told WOOD-TV.
Kent County Chief Physician Dr. Stephen Cole said he completed the autopsy on the day of Lioya’s death, but the toxicology results are not complete. He said the full report would not be published until the state police completed an investigation.
“This is the standard operating procedure,” Cole said.
As in many cities in the United States, Grand Rapids police have occasionally been criticized for using force, especially against blacks, who make up 18 percent of the population.
In November, the Michigan Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit over the practice of taking and taking fingerprints of people who have never been charged with a crime. Grand Rapids said the policy changed in 2015.
A downtown street is designated Breonna Taylor Way, named after a black woman and a native of Grand Rapids who was killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky, during a failed drug raid in 2020.
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