The Killing Of Patrick Lyoya

“On April 4, 2022, Patrick Lyoya was killed by Grand Rapids, Michigan Officer Christopher Schurr during a traffic stop. The story made national headlines. While many black men have been killed at the hands of the police under questionable circumstances, this one stands out. There was an altercation between Schurr and Lyoya during the stop… Lyoya was shot in the back of the head. Schurr was fired from the police force and charged with second degree murder. He was supposed to stand trial last October, but Schurr attorneys appealed the ruling, stating that Schurr was acting in the line of duty. The trial was put on hold pending the decision of the State Court of Appeals on whether they would hear the case or let the lower court ruling stand, which meant being tried by a jury of his peers. The shat was videotaped… and the boys at the Michigan State Penitentiary… aka “Booty Down,” have reportedly said they are waiting for him with open arms. However, they will have to wait a little longer, as on October 24, 2023, the State Court of Appeals agreed to hear the case. There is no time limit on how long they have to make a decision. I thought I would repost this tragic story, so that we remember Patrick Lyoya as we wait for the slow wheels of justice to turn.”
Hill1News.

Very few stories I have written have been as sad as the killing of Patrick Lyoya. It happened a few months ago in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Grand Rapids, Michigan is the hometown of former President Gerald Ford, who pardoned Richard Nixon after the Watergate scandal. It is also the office furniture capital of the world and if you are reading this at work, you are probably sitting at a desk and chair manufactured there. Grand Rapids gets its name from the Grand River, which is the largest inlet river in Michigan and it flows from Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan is the second largest lake in the United States. The population is about 1.2 million with about 20 percent being black. Doing the math, that’s 240,000 black or African American folks living there. Now when you got that many black folks living among whites, there is bound to be some type of tension. Grand Rapids is no exception. In 2015 Forbes Magazine ranked Grand Rapids the second worst U.S. city in economic success for African Americans. I think Pissonem, Mississippi was first but I’ll have to check that… Anywho, in 1967 during the height of the Vietnam protest, Grand Rapids saw its own uprising when blacks folks burn that sucker down to a nub due to racial tension, discrimination and distrust of the police. It’s been 55 years since an angry black community has called to task the racist business as usual trope of the police department and its backers.. but that is about to change…

Justus…

So before we get into the incident as some people call it, rather than the murder, I want to talk a little bit about Patrick. Patrick was a black refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I sorta was feeling some kinda way when I read that because according to Ancestry.com, our family has roots there. So I’m definitely gonna rip dey azz right off and throw it in Old Man Skeeters yard who teaches his five black pit bulls to get it real good… and don’t come back without it… RUFF!! RUFF!! RUFF!! Anywho… so Patrick was a refugee and like many refugees he had some problems adjusting to life in a country where he was now a minority. By that I mean he had some run ins with the law, specifically some dui’s and drug use issues. So we all know how this is going to go down when they get into court…
Defense: “So Officer you said that when you approached his car you could smell the Ecstacy.. I mean marijuana..”
Prosecutor: “I object your honor.. he knows you can’t smell Ecstacy… he just throwing that stuff out there… this is not a drug case .. this is a murder trial!”
Judge: “Sustained… Counselor no more of that!”
Defense: “Well did you find heroin in his car?”
Prosecutor: “Your honor!!”
Judge: “I’m warning you Counselor!! Sustained!!”
Defense: “Let’s try this… Officer how many main lining, crack smoking, disgusting black addicts have you pulled over and arrested lately?”
Judge: “Don’t answer that..!!. Sir you are in contempt!!”
Defense: “Okay your honor… just one more question… Officer, we know you are a red blooded, gawd fearing, patriotic American that’s been eating Kellogg’s Corn Flakes ever since you was a little baby… did you know that “he’s”… from ova there..?”
Prosecutor: “YOUR HONOR!!!”
Judge: “The jury will disregard that… Bailiff.. take the counselor away….”
So yeah, there is going to be a lot of talk about his drinking and driving, his drug use and where he’s from. Somewhere near the end of the trial they will talk about his killing… after they have tried to give the jury the impression that he was an imperfect human being and that his life is not valuable.

Whatch Gonna Do When Dey Come For You..

Meanwhile Christopher Schurr, the officer responsible for the murder of Patrick Lyoya will be held up as a steward of law and justice!!
Police: “Officer Schurr is a beacon of light in a city overrun by darkies and crime.. I mean the darkness of crime!!”
Yeah we know what you mean. Schurr has a degree in criminal justice from a local college and was a member of their track team. Reports indicate that his demeanor was very strict and that he was easy to anger. Teammate: “You ran that last leg slower than my old man…” Schurr: “I’ll kill you if you say that again!!!” Indeed his fellow teammates wondered if having such a temperament would be a good fit for the stresses of police work. So in the video that I am going to show you at the end of the article you can see Schurr giving chase to Lyoya. As a matter of fact he has been given numerous citations for his ability to run em down on foot. In the days before the Civil War they called these men paddy rollers. Paddy rollers were not only responsible for hunting down escaped slaves but were the de facto slave police. If you were a plantation owner and 325 lb, 6’8, hard muscled Big Jimbo said “Faqdat.. I ain’t doing it no more.. pick yo own damn cotton!!,” You can’t get Boss Man to take care of it because Jimbo is standing on top of him with his size 12 foot on his head… beating him with the whip you just bought yesterday. Suddenly he looks at you and says, “You heard me!! I ain’t doing it no more!! Why I oughta…” You run for your life to the house and tell Moses.. “Go get the Paddy Rollers.” Moses: “Massa Paddy!! Massa Paddy!! Jimbo is fixing to tear Massa Ashleigh’s very one up and den he said he gonna feed it to the goats and pigs!!” So yeah, you can say Schurr is a modern day paddy roller. Anywho, it took a few days and a couple trash can fires before they would even released his name. “In the interest of transparency, to reduce on-going speculation, and to avoid any further confusion (fires), I am confirming the name already publicly circulating – Christopher Schurr – as the officer involved in the April 4 Officer-Involved Shooting. Beginning this week, as required by law, the Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) will be releasing documents in response to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act relative to this incident.” -Grand Rapids Police Department.

Driving While Black…

Besides the riots of 1967, the Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) has been under recent investigations for blatant discrimination and use of excessive force. A few years ago a report stated that non white citizens in Grand Rapids were more than twice as likely to be stopped by police than white citizens. That’s not real surprising. In the US non whites are more than 20 percent more likely to be stopped by police than whites. What’s amazing is that non whites are search 2 times more often than whites and were less likely to be carrying drugs, guns, or other illegal contraband when compared to their white peers. Here’s some more police shenanigans that you might not be aware of… black drivers are stopped less frequently at night than during the day. The researchers deduced that the reason was because it was more difficult to tell the race of the driver at night… USA!! USA!! USA!! That piece of information came out of Stanford… Okay let’s get back to our subject… So Michigan does have a Department Of Civil Rights and while it was it was running it received hundreds of complaints about the GRPD. You might ask yourself..” Is he mixing past and present tense?” Well sorta kinda, they still have a Department of Civil Rights but in 2019 they began putting investigations on hold citing lack of resources and staff. In other words.. they not funding it. Still cases like 12 year old children being handcuffed, Latino’s being approached at gunpoint for walking in the street, a black man being arrested at gunpoint during his grandmother’s wake, because he looked like the suspect and a 26 year old black man being stomped for an alleged littering incident are being reported daily by the local newspapers and television. It’s no surprise that in 2020 the City of Grand Rapids survey data revealed that black respondents held less trust in GRPD than white or Hispanic respondents.

The Killing…

So we have talked about a little bit of this and a little bit of that.. it’s time to get down to what happened. Because of the brutal and sadistic nature of the killing, I am not gonna get into a lot of commentary. For those of you who can stomach the insufferable craven killing, I have provided the video below. But be forewarned, it is not something you will want to see twice. At around 8 am on April 4th, Schurr pulled Lyoya over for improper registration. His tags were registered to another car. Lyoya also had three bench warrants outstanding, one for a traffic accident in which he left the scene, one for not appearing in court for that same offense and a domestic violence warrant issued just three days earlier by his girlfriend. On the day that he was killed Lyoya had a blood alcohol level of 0.29. The legal limit is .08. As you can tell his alcohol level was three time the legal limit. I have not determined by the records I researched if Schurr knew there were warrants out for Lyoya or if he knew he was intoxicated. After Schurr stops Lyoya, he tells him to stay in the car, but Lyoya gets out asking Schurr “what did I do wrong?” Schurr then asks for his driver’s licence and Lyoya tells him it’s in the car. Lyoya opens the car door and talks to the passenger in the car but doesn’t get into the car or gets his licence. Lyoya then closes the car door and walks toward the front of the car. It was at this time that Schurr grabs Lyoya by the arm, who then breaks free and runs away. Schurr then calls for backup and chase’s Lyoya. After he catches him a scuffle ensues. Schurr tells Lyoya to stop resisting arrest. Lyoya’s hands are behind his back at this time and Schurr is straddling him. Schurr then pulls out his taser and aims it at Lyoya, who pushes it away. Lyoya asks Schurr “Stop what you are doing, please.” The passenger who was with Lyoya also tells the officer to stop. They struggle for about a minute more and Schurr yells out several times to let go of the taser. Schurr is on top of Lyoya with his side pressed against him. Schurr has restrained Lyoya with one hand and then removes his pistol from its holster with the other hand and kills Lyoya. No weapons other than the taser and Schurr’s pistol were found at the scene. The commander who arrived at the scene confirmed that Lyoya had been shot once in the back of the head.

And If You Don’t Know…

There was an abundance of video evidence, the patrol car dashcam, Schurr’s body camera and the passengers cell phone video. However DA Chris Becker refused to bring charges until the formal investigation had completed. Eventually he changed his mind after somebody left an empty 65 inch TV box outside his office with a brick and a picture of Walmart… sorry couldn’t help myself… Anyweee.. it hit the fan when it was discovered that the local police union had donated to his reelection campaign. There were calls for him to recuse himself from the case. Becker is a republican. Over 50 Grand Rapids area spiritual leaders also demanded the recusal of Becker. Meanwhile Becker maintained that he did not have a personal relationship with Schurr and dismissed calls for his recusal. Two months later on June 9th, Becker brought charges against Schurr. Saying that police officers were not above the law, Becker said it appeared to him the killing was intentional and not an act of self defense. Becker has said he will try the case personally. Since the killing, Schurr had been on paid leave, but the same day the charges were filed, Chief Winstrom of GRPD demanded the City Manager of Grand Rapids immediately suspend the pay of Schurr while pending the officer’s firing from the department. Schurr has been charged with second degree murder. The Michigan Attorney General praised Becker’s charges as did the Lyoya family attorney, Ben “Generational Wealth” Crump, saying the charges were “more than appropriate”. Since the release of the video there have been daily protest in Grand Rapids with the Royal Black Panthers hosting one. Patrick Lyoya was buried April 22, 2022. Over 1000 people attended his flag draped coffin procession. Reverend Al “Ima Talk About This Ish For A Long.. Long Time.” Sharpton gave the eulogy. In it he said, “We stand with President Biden for those victims in Ukraine. … but they shot a young boy in the United States, … from Ukraine to Grand Rapids we must stand up for victims”. There has been an outpouring of sympathy for the family from people like Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and President Joe Biden…. and on May 25, 2022, the Lyoya family was in attendance when the president signed the George Floyd Executive Order into law.

And Now A Word From The Sponsor…

Black Lifer #1: “Hey man what dat you put up in the cell…”
Black Lifer #2: That be the new rules for our special guest coming soon..
Black Lifer #1: Oh you be talking about Sugar Bottom Schurr..
Black Lifer #2: Yep..
Black Lifer #1: Let me take a look a dat..
Sugar Schurr Rules:
1. You are not allowed to have a shadow.. If we see you with one…@zzwhopin…
2. On Sundays you must change your skin color to dark brown… if you don’t… @zzwhoopin…
3. Yo name is Toby.. If you answer to anything else… @zzwhoopin…
4. On Saturdays you are required to insult Black Gorilla Joe by talking about his mama… if you don’t @zzwhoopin..
5. You are required to escape every day and bring us some Popeyes Chicken.. if you don’t… @zzWhoopin..
6. If you see these rules.. @zwhoopin…

Thanks for reading © Hill1News.
Repost from June 2022.

This video is very graphic and is not recommended for sensitive people. It really isn’t friends. Be mindful.







Advertisement

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*