GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Calling Patrick Lyoya's shooting death "an execution" by a police officer, the Rev. Al Sharpton on Friday demanded a federal investigation into the fatal traffic stop.
Sharpton, who heads the National Action Network, delivered a half-hour eulogy at the funeral for Lyoya, the motorist killed April 4 by an unnamed Grand Rapids police officer.
"I’m not going to desecrate the local authorities, but I want to call on the federal Justice Department to investigate this," Sharpton said at the Renaissance Church of God in Christ in Grand Rapids.
"We don’t want local politics to compromise justice," he said. "We're calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to stand up for the civil rights of Patrick Lyoya."
At the outset of the traffic stop, according to video released by Grand Rapids police, the officer asked for Lyoya's driver's license, and Lyoya eventually fled the car and a chase on foot ensued.
The two men ended up struggling over the officer’s stun gun, according to video footage released last week by the Grand Rapids Police Department, before the officer shot Lyoya in the back of the head.
During the 20 minutes of video footage, Lyoya can be heard saying, "stop what you are doing, please" while the officer can be heard shouting to Lyoya "let go of the Taser" before firing the fatal shot.
The Michigan Department of Civil Rights has requested an investigation into the Grand Rapids Police Department's practices, Grand Rapids U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge confirmed Tuesday. The state department wants a "pattern or practice investigation" about possible discrimination by the police department.
The Michigan State Police are investigating Lyoya's shooting death. The officer, whose name the family has called for to be released, is on paid leave.
Lyoya family attorney Benjamin Crumb said earlier this week at a Detroit press conference that the U.S. Department of Justice reached out to say it would be reviewing Lyoya's death.
During the eulogy, Sharpton, who vowed he and his network would pay for Lyoya's funeral costs, addressed the officer and questioned his decisions.
"You didn't have to chase (Loyoya) down," Sharpton said. "There was another passenger in the car; you could've asked him who (Lyoya) was and where he was going.
"And then you say something about a hand on a Taser," Sharpton said. "Well, if you say he had a hand on the Taser, that means you knew when you grabbed your gun that you didn't have your Taser. You knew you were using a deadly weapon.
"You turned a traffic stop into what appears on tape to be an execution," Sharpton said.
Sharpton pointed out that Lyoya was killed on the 54th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's 1968 assassination.
"As I went through the day, on my radio show and other places, I talked about how Dr. King had given his life to fight for justice and freedom for people like me," Sharpton said. "Later that day (I learned) that on that day, 2022, that a young Black man from the Congo was shot and killed here in Grand Rapids. I said, ‘Are you serious?’”
The New York minister also criticized Grand Rapids police officials' decision to withhold the name of the officer who fatally shot Patrick Lyoya unless he is charged with a crime.
"Whenever you arrest a young Black man, you put his name all over the news," Sharpton said.
"Is this the Michigan that not long ago where you would not convict men who would kidnap the governor?" Sharpton said. "Now, you're going to protect the ID of the man who shot someone in the back of the head? Is this Michigan 2022 or Mississippi 1922?"
A Grand Rapids jury almost two weeks ago acquitted two men and deadlocked on a decision about two other defendants in the purported plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
The Detroit News does not publish the names of suspects until they've been charged with crimes or publicly named by police officials.
Sharpton had a flight delay and was more than an hour late, Senior Pastor Dennis McMurray said before the minister's arrival. His remarks were repeated in Congolese by an interpreter. Lyoya, 26, was a Congolese immigrant.
At about 12:30 p.m., Sharpton began the eulogy. "I come ... to tell you that this cannot end today," he said, prompting applause."
Sharpton also pointed out: "This is an election year" and campaigned for the passage of federal legislation that he said would make police more accountable.
Following Sharpton's eulogy, U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield spoke. She is the only Black official in Michigan's congressional delegation.
"This is personal to me," Lawrence said. "This is my family. You are my family. This is my community, and if I don’t stand up, who will?"
During the pre-service musical selection, congregants filed to the front of the church to pay their respects before the casket, which was draped in a red-and-blue-and-yellow Congolese flag.
Some mourners wore hoodies bearing photos of Lyoya. After one man visited the casket, he was led out of the church in tears, his hands covering his face.
An autopsy requested by the Lyoya family and conducted by Dr. Werner Spitz found that the cause of death was a bullet shot to the back of the head.
Family members and mourners gathered last Saturday for a vigil at a Lansing church where they called for justice for Lyoya.
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