GRAND RAPIDS (Michigan, US), April 16 (NNN-Xinhua) — The killing of a black man by a white police officer sparks a series of protests during the past three days in Grand Rapids, Michigan, local media reported.
The protests first erupted Wednesday after the Grand Rapids Police Department released several videos of an officer’s encounter with Patrick Lyoya earlier this month, including two that show the fatal shot during a struggle after a traffic stop.
Lyoya, 26, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, was killed in the front garden of a house in Grand Rapids after a brief chase followed by a struggle with the officer, who has not been named.
On Wednesday night, after videos of the incident were released, barriers went up at the Grand Rapids police station as hundreds marched downtown, chanting and demanding the department release the name of the officer who shot Lyoya, local TV channel WZZM reported.
There have been multiple protests and rallies on behalf of Lyoya. On Tuesday evening, dozens of people called for justice as they rallied outside a City Commission meeting. Community members in Grand Rapids gathered downtown at Rosa Parks Circle on Friday. The group marched downtown to the Grand Rapids Police Department headquarters to make their voices heard.
The deaths of George Floyd and other black men at the hands of police have led to protests across America in recent years. There have been 255 police shootings across the United States this year, according to The Washington Post. — NNN-XINHUA
