The beaten relatives of the young black father, who was fatally shot by a Michigan police officer, want the cop fired and prosecuted, insisting that Patrick Lioya was killed “like an animal” while stopping.
Lioya, 26, a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was shot in the back of the head by a white officer while face down on a piece of grass on April 4 during the cop’s Taser fight in Grand Rapids.
Lioja’s grieving parents, Peter and Dorkas Lioja, who took their six Congolese children to escape the 2014 unrest, called for the officer to be identified, harassed and destroyed during an emotional press conference on Thursday, the Washington Post reported.
“My life is over,” Peter Lioya said through an interpreter. “My life was Patrick, my son. I thought Patrick would take my place. And to see that my son was killed as an animal by this policeman and to see this video that they showed, I see that I have no life. “
Peter Lioja says his life ended after the death of his son Patrick. AP / Anna Nichols Patrick was face down when he was fatally shot in the head by a Grand Rapids police officer after resisting arrest on April 4, 2022. Grand Rapids Police Department Dorcas Lyoya said before emigrating to America that he cannot believe that “there may be a style of execution” in the country. Corey Morse / The Grand Rapids Press via AP
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom released four videos of the fatal meeting, which began when Lioja, who was unarmed, was stopped for driving a car with a license plate that did not match the vehicle.
A video shows Lioja getting out of the car, ignoring the police officer’s orders and trying to escape. He then tried to snatch the cop’s stunning pistol during a fight that lasted about 90 seconds before he was shot after a police officer ordered him to “throw an electric shock”, footage showed.
An unidentified employee, a seven-year veteran of the department, has been released on paid leave as state investigators investigate the shooting.
Lioja’s family was joined on Thursday by prominent civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who said the footage clearly showed the police officer showed “unnecessary [and] excessive ”use of force during the collision.
“And his mother and father and their family want the Attorney General to charge him fully with the law for killing their son, for breaking their hearts, for making his young children orphans,” Crump told reporters Thursday. . “Equal justice requires it.”
Hundreds of protesters rallied at the Grand Rapids police station after officers released footage of Wednesday’s deadly traffic jam. Protesters chanted “Black lives matter” and “Name the killer cop” during a peaceful but sharp rally, the Washington Post reported.
Patrick Lioya was unarmed when he was stopped for driving a car with a registration number that did not match the vehicle. Scott Olson / Getty Images Police Chief Eric Winstrom has released four videos of the fatal encounter. AP / Grand Rapids Police Department Peter says his son was “killed like an animal.” Bill Pulyano / Getty Images
Dorcas Lioja, meanwhile, said she believes her family can finally catch her breath after fleeing the war and persecution in Africa after arriving in the United States eight years ago, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“We were told that there is peace in America, there is security, you will not see more murders, that this is actually a safe haven,” she said through an interpreter.
Parents mourning the loss of their eldest son and father of two then turned their attention to an unnamed police officer who shot him, saying he “must protect” Patrick.
Patrick Lioya’s death sparked several rallies against police brutality. Daniel Schular / Grand Rapids Press told AP The Lyoyas that the policeman who killed their son “should protect him”. REUTERS / Rebecca Cook The Lyoyas family plans to file a lawsuit for the deadly shooting.REUTERS / Rebecca Cook
“I didn’t believe there was genocide in this country,” said Peter Lioya. “I didn’t know that here in America, there could be a style of execution … being killed by a police officer.
The Lioi family said Thursday they plan to file a lawsuit over the deadly shooting, possibly in federal court, according to the Washington Post.
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