GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Local activists held a march on Saturday afternoon, April 9, in response to the death of Patrick Lyoya, 26, who was killed during a traffic stop by a Grand Rapids police officer five days earlier.
Hundreds of supporters, starting at nonprofit Amplify GR’s offices, marched through the city’s Boston Square neighborhood with members of Lyoya’s family. They marched to the Center for Community Transformation, where a candlelight vigil was held.
The man’s family and local leaders asked for the video of Lyoya’s death to be released in full.
“I want the video to be shown to the world. I want the world to see what happened to my son,” said Peter Lyoya, through interpreter Israel Siku.
The Lyoya family left the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2014 to come to the United States to escape the violence there.
“I knew that they came to America it was going to be safe, and there’s no safety here,” Lyoya said.
“We don’t want revenge,” said Freddie Nyembwe, president of the Congolese Community of Lansing. ”We want justice to be done and we want the video to be shown all over the world”.
