Act Daily News
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The household of a Black man fatally shot within the head by a Michigan police officer has sued the ex-officer and the town who employed him, alleging partially that the slain man’s civil rights had been violated via extreme drive.
Patrick Lyoya’s household filed the civil lawsuit towards former Grand Rapids police Officer Christopher Schurr and the town of Grand Rapids on Wednesday in a US district court docket in Michigan.
Act Daily News has reached out to the town of Grand Rapids and Schurr’s protection legal professional for remark.
Lyoya was shot to dying on April 4 by Schurr, a White police officer making an attempt to arrest him after a site visitors cease in Grand Rapids. Schurr and Lyoya had struggled over the officer’s Taser, and after Lyoya gained management of the weapon, Schurr shot Lyoya at the back of the pinnacle as Lyoya was on the bottom, authorities stated.
Lyoya’s closing moments had been captured in a number of movies later launched to the general public. The dying led to protests in Grand Rapids, the place different interactions between police and residents drew media scrutiny in a metropolis with a historical past of pressure between Black residents and police.
Schurr is awaiting legal trial within the case, having been charged June 9 with one depend of second-degree homicide. Schurr, who pleaded not responsible, was fired days after being charged. Schurr’s attorneys have argued the officer was justified in capturing Lyoya.
“It’s clear Schurr unnecessarily escalated a situation involving an unarmed Black man,” one of many Lyoya household’s attorneys, Ven Johnson stated, in a news launch asserting the swimsuit.
The lawsuit, which asks for a jury trial and unspecified financial damages, alleges Schurr violated Lyoya’s Fourth Amendment rights through the use of extreme drive, arguing Schurr had no lawful foundation to shoot, and that Lyoya “posed no threat to Schurr or any other person’s safety.”
The swimsuit additionally alleges Schurr violated state legislation towards gross negligence, saying he breached his duties “to act legally and reasonably and to avoid the use of unnecessary and/or excessive force.”
And the swimsuit claims Grand Rapids violated Lyoya’s civil rights. The metropolis has “a policy, practice procedure, protocol, and/or custom that demonstrates deliberate indifference to the rights of the plaintiff and was the cause and moving force behind the violations and harm suffered,” the lawsuit reads.
“Law enforcement officers in this country cannot continue to be absolved of accountability for shooting first and asking questions later,” one other of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Ben Crump, stated within the news launch. “The minor punishments officers usually obtain don’t ship a message that can deter different officers from repeating this lethal cycle. This sample wants to finish right here with justice for Patrick Lyoya. “
Lyoya, 26, was pulled over by Schurr for an allegedly unregistered license plate.
Lyoya, who bought out of the automobile, tried to get away from Schurr after the officer requested for his license, and he traveled about 30 ft from the automobile earlier than being tackled to the bottom, a Michigan State Police detective stated in a court docket doc supporting a warrant for Schurr’s arrest.
There was a bodily altercation, with Schurr demanding that Lyoya, “stop fighting, stop resisting,” in response to a transcript of the detective’s June testimony to the decide who signed off on the warrant.
Schurr deployed his Taser twice, and Lyoya gained management of the Taser, the detective testified. Schurr made “many commands” for him to drop the gadget and a bodily altercation adopted with each males on the bottom, the detective testified.
The officer was on prime of Lyoya’s again – the Black man inclined on the bottom – when Schurr “lost complete control of the Taser.” Lyoya had “complete control of the Taser” at that time, the detective testified.
“It appears that Patrick was then on his hands and knees. Again, Officer Schurr was on (Lyoya’s) back,” the detective stated, in response to the transcript. “Officer Schurr pulled his duty firearm from its holster and then fired one round into the back of Patrick’s head, causing his body to go limp.”
Schurr was “justified in his use of force,” his lawyer Mark Dodge argued in a June arraignment. The officer believed Lyoya “obtained full control of (his) Taser” and he was “in danger of serious bodily injury or death,” Schurr’s attorneys stated in a June movement for bond.
Lyoya had three excellent warrants and a revoked driver’s license on the time he fled the site visitors cease.