The Michigan chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, released the following statement after Grand Rapids police officers fatally shot Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Black man, outside a house in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Newly released video appears to show a police officer fatally shooting Lyoya in the head while he was face-down on the ground during the incident last week. Details are still developing.
“Patrick Lyoya should still be alive – our hearts ache for his loved ones, and the Grand Rapids community in the wake of this terrible tragedy,” said Annie Vandenberg, a volunteer with the Michigan chapter of Moms Demand Action. “We stand alongside Patrick Lyoya’s family, and the Grand Rapids community, in calling for justice and will continue fighting for meaningful end to police violence that disproportionately impacts Black Americans.”
Research suggests that implementing specific use-of-force policies can save lives. One 2016 study of 91 large police departments found adoption of use-of-force reform policies—exhaustion of other means prior to shooting, bans on chokeholds and strangleholds, use-of-force continuum, de-escalation, duty to intervene, restrictions on shootings at moving vehicles, and warning before shooting—was associated with fewer people killed by police.
More information about police violence is available here. More on gun violence in Michigan is available here.