DETROIT — Youth activists on Sunday chanted demands for justice for the family of Patrick Lyoya in front of the "Spirit of Detroit," bringing outrage over the April 4 killing of the Black refugee by a police officer in Grand Rapids to the city's municipal building before marching up Woodward Avenue and staging a die-in.
With signs that read "Justice for Patrick Lyoya" and "Arrest the cop who murdered Patrick Lyoya," and chants proclaiming "no justice, no peace" and "Black lives matter," protesters called for accountability for the Grand Rapids police officer who shot the 26-year-old in the back of the head during a traffic stop, with demands to reveal his identity and fire and prosecute him.
"I feel for Patrick's family, but I can never feel the pain they're feeling," said Perriel Pace, 16, an organizer with Detroit Heals Detroit, through tears while speaking into a megaphone to a crowd of several dozen people.
