The Community Where Patrick Lyoya Was Killed by Cops Saw It Coming
Daevionne Smith was leaving his father’s house in Grand Rapids, Michigan, one night in December when he was suddenly rushed by police officers. They surrounded the 30-year-old and told him to get on the ground, at gunpoint.
Smith, a Black man, barely had a moment to process what was happening before he heard a gunshot. Not wanting to take a chance, he immediately followed their orders.
“Why did you shoot, sir?” Smith asked an officer as he lay on the ground.
“I tripped,” the cop responded. The officer who fired the shot maintained that he’d done so by accident; he was charged with a single count of careless discharge and is scheduled to face trial later this year. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to 90 days in jail and a $100 fine.
Smith would later find out that police had suspected he was driving a stolen car.
In the end, however, the whole encounter was a case of mistaken identity: The officers didn’t even have the right car.
“I remember telling people at the time, ‘If they don't do something about this, somebody's gonna die,’” Smith told VICE News. Smith knows about the consequences of unchecked police violence: His cousin, Breonna Taylor, was the 26-year-old Black woman killed by cops in March 2020 during the execution of a no-knock warrant in Louisville, Kentucky.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3nd8e/patrick-lyoya-death-christopher-schurr
________________________________________________________________________________
"But the Civilian Appeal Board is weakened by the police union’s ability to override its decision." WTAF???
= new reply since forum marked as read
