Michigan police expected to release dashcam video of police shooting dead Patrick Lyoya

Calls releasing unedited dashcam video of police shooting dead a black man in Michigan intensified over the weekend, with law enforcement officials promising to release the video on Friday.

Patrick Lyoya, 26, was killed after he was towed by Grand Rapids police on April 4 because of an unregistered license plate, Sheriff Eric Winstrom said at a police station. news conference same day.

Winstrom said Lyoya got out of his car, briefly fled, and was shot dead after a “prolonged struggle.”

His family disputes that account, saying they watched video of the encounter showing Lyoya face down on the ground as he was shot in the back of the head.

“I saw that tape. I couldn’t sleep. The boy was on the floor. The policeman got on his knees, pulled out a gun and shot him in the head,” said Israel Siku, Lyoya’s family interpreter. , said Sunday at a community forum at the Renaissance Church of God in Christ in Grand Rapids The family’s native language is Swahili.

Lyoya and her family immigrated to the US in 2014 from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, reports MLivewebsite of a family of Michigan newspapers.

Siku, who along with Lyoya’s father was shown the dashcam video, described the shooting as “execution style”.

In an interview on Monday, Siku said the family was “still grieving, confused and heartbroken”, adding that Lyoya’s mother was “absolutely shocked.”

Lyoya left behind two children under 2 years old.

Mr. Winstrom said the officer, who is white and has worked for the department since 2015, was placed under administrative control during an investigation by the Michigan State Police. The officer’s name has yet to be released.

Winstrom said in a declare Friday that he will release the video “no later than noon on Friday, April 15.”

Winstrom’s promise puts him at odds with Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker, who is asking the department to keep the video until the state police investigation is complete.

“There are still many unanswered questions. As is our policy with any ongoing investigation, we do not release any materials to the public. To maintain the integrity of this investigation, I have asked the relevant police agencies not to release any evidence until the investigation is complete,” Becker said in a statement. declare. “While I am committed to the transparency of the process, I am also subject to legal and ethical obligations to ensure the integrity of an investigation by ensuring that information related to the event may affect the investigation will not be disclosed.”

A state police spokesman said the man who shot Lyoya had not yet been interviewed by Michigan State Police Monday morning because his attorney was not present.

Lyoya’s family and community members demanded the video be released at a rally attended by hundreds of people on Saturday.

The family is represented by national civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who has also represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery.

“Every Black family lives in fear that a regular traffic stop will cause death,” Crump said at a community forum over the weekend. Patrick’s fate is the nightmare we live in every day.”

He repeated his request to release the dashcam video.

“It is essential that all video evidence be made public as soon as possible so that we can witness and witness firsthand what happened to Patrick. Complete transparency is the only way to regain the trust of the community.”

at Blogtuan.info – Source: nbcnews.com – Read the original article here