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WATCH: Cop Tackles Unarmed Man, Executes Him With a Bullet to the Back of the Head—Taxpayers to Be Held Liable

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Published on: December 10, 2022

Video showed an officer tackle an unarmed Patrick Lyoya over a minor traffic stop and execute him with a bullet to the head.

Grand Rapids, MI — On April 4, an officer with the Grand Rapids police department initiated a traffic stop on 26-year-old Congolese refugee Patrick Lyoya. Moments later, Lyoya would be dead from a bullet wound to the back of his head — put there by the police officer — over a minor traffic violation.

“It’s a prima facie case of driving while Black,” said national civil rights attorney Ben Crump.

Crump and co-counsel Ven Johnson said Wednesday they are seeking a historical $100 million in damages in a federal lawsuit.

In June, officer Christopher Schurr was charged with second-degree murder for killing Lyoya.

After news of the lawsuit, Schurr’s police union-appointed attorneys released a brief statement calling the lawsuit a misrepresentation.

“We are troubled by the misrepresentations made today in an attempt to profit from this unfortunate, yet lawful, incident,” according to the statement.

According to the facts of the case, however, this incident doesn’t appear lawful in the slightest. What’s more, according to Lyoya’s family attorneys, Schurr’s actions that fateful morning appeared to be part of a long history of violence and corruption.

As ABC reported, Johnson said they found that between June 2015 and May 2020, 79 citizen complaints for excessive use of force were lodged against Grand Rapids police officers. All but two officers were “exonerated or otherwise cleared.”

“You have this pattern and practice of excessive force, so when you take ‘driving while Black’ plus excessive force, you end up with Patrick Lyoya being unjustly executed by this Grand Rapids police officer,” Crump said at the press conference.

Lyoya’s death is an example of how the system targets the poor and minorities with excessive traffic fees and fines for non-compliance. Lyoya had a suspended license and he knew that the officer who pulled him over that day was going to likely take him to jail for it. So, he tried to get away.

Because it is the police officer’s job to kidnap and cage people over victimless crimes like suspended licenses, Lyoya was not allowed to walk away. Instead, the officer escalated violence against the unarmed, non-violent man.

According to the Grand Rapids police department, the officer had initiated a traffic stop because the license plate on Lyoya’s car did not match the car in the system.

During the stop, Lyoya exits the vehicle before the officer asks for his driver’s license and tells him to get back in the car. At that moment, Lyoya decided to flee. At this point, the officer gave chase before tackling Lyoya and initiating a struggle on the ground.

At no point during the struggle did Lyoya attempt to punch or otherwise injure the officer. He merely tried to get away and defend himself from the officer’s attack.

When the officer pulls out his taser, Lyoya grabs it to stop the officer from deploying it.

“Stop!” the officer yells. “Let go of the Taser!”

The officer stays on Lyoya’s back for around 90 seconds before he then pulls out his pistol, puts it to the back of Lyoya’s head, and fires. Lyoya would not survive the execution-style gunshot to the back of his head.

“The video clearly shows that this was an unnecessary, excessive, and fatal use of force against an unarmed Black man who was confused by the encounter and terrified for his life,” Crump said. “It should be noted that Patrick never used violence against this officer even though the officer used violence against him in several instances for what was a misdemeanor traffic stop.”

Lyoya arrived in the United States as a child with his five brothers and sisters. His family was fleeing violence in the Congo and had sought a better and safer life in the States. Unfortunately, and in a twist of tragic irony, thanks to the American police state, their quest for a safer and better life has come to a violent and bloody end.

Article posted with permission from Matt Agorist

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