Grand Rapids residents call for justice and police accountability at NAACP meeting
Attendees at the "Justice Delayed Is Still Justice Denied" event organized by NAACP in Grand Rapids City on May 14, 2025 | Photo by Erick Diaz Veliz
Dozens of residents gathered Wednesday evening for a community listening session organized by the Greater Grand Rapids NAACP in collaboration with the Urban League of West Michigan.
Titled 'Justice Delayed Is Still Justice Denied,' the event allowed participants to share comments, calls for justice, and frustration over the 2022 death of Black motorist Patrick Lyoya by white former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr.
During community testimonies and opinions, citizens and community leaders from Grand Rapids expressed their discontent with what they say is ongoing police abuse and frustration over last week´s mistrial in the Schurr case and their demand for a retrial.
Schurr was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Lyoya, a 26-year-old Congolese refugee, in the back of his head during a traffic stop on April 4, 2022.
The trial concluded May 8 without a jury decision after Kent County Circuit Judge Christina Mins declared a mistrial which sparked collective outrage in the community.
The listening session began with speeches from leaders of the organizations involved in this event, attorneys, and social activists.
¨This system is inherently evil because when you have the audacity to draw your side arm and shoot a young man who is 26 years old who poses no threat to you in the back of his head, that's evil and not justifiable,¨ NAACP President Cle Jackson said.
¨We will continue the fight that has been for decades around accountability within the Grand Rapids police system,' Eric Brown, Urban League of West Michigan president said during his virtual speech.
¨We will not rest until we get to make sure that police are going to be held accountable for their misbehaviour. They are not above the law,¨ Brown remarked.
Among the speakers, civil attorney Steven Drew provided legal police contexts to the public and answered community questions.
'This is nothing new. I even learned that suing the police is a difficult thing, because the police are called the blue code, always coming and trying to help each other among them,' Drew emphasized.
Drew also mentioned that during Schurr's trial, the defense requested a mistrial several times, and the jury denied those requests. However, the mistrial occurred anyway because the jury couldn't reach a unanimous verdict. He clarified that in criminal cases, all twelve jurors must agree on a verdict; otherwise, they must declare a mistrial, as has happened.
Fridah Kay, founder of A Glimpse of Africa and an African immigrant, emotionally emphasized the suffering of Lyoya's family and the problems faced by immigrants and refugees.
'It is very hard, especially for me as an immigrant and my refugee community. We have so many competing needs, and then to just imagine, you have to keep up finding a system that is not giving you a chance,' Kay said to those gathered for the event. 'I spoke to Patrick´s dad, and he is exhausted. He is tired. He is really not trying to do this, but this is what we have. This is all we can do.'
During public commentary and testimony, reported instances of police abuse and brutality did not take long to come up over the microphone. Concerns over jury selection were also expressed among the audience.
Lamar Fourcha, 35, a Grand Rapids resident, recounted how he was brutally pulled from his car and thrown to the ground by more than five police officers the night of April 5, 2024, outside his home, as he was returning from work.
Fourcha said his wife was also arrested as she watched them handcuff her husband on the road. Although Fourcha said he was cleared of all charges filed against him by the police, he lost his job and his home, and is undergoing therapy as a result of the police abuse. He still sees the same officers that he contends violently arrested him.
'There needs to be some type of accountability on the GR police department, because I see these same officers that assaulted me during the night, on third shift. I see them on TV shows. I see them still going as if everything is okay,' said Fourcha.
Outrage over the impunity enjoyed by police in the abuse of Black and brown people was a recurring theme brought up by those in attendance.
'I am not going to turn the other cheek. It is time to keep fighting. They think we are weak. They don't know us. You don't know us. Don't be afraid, and let's show them something different,' Jocelyn Robinson, 76, and a Grand Rapids resident, said.
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Attendees at the "Justice Delayed Is Still Justice Denied" event organized by NAACP in Grand Rapids City on May 14, 2025 | Photo by Erick Diaz Veliz
Attendees at the "Justice Delayed Is Still Justice Denied" event organized by NAACP in Grand Rapids City on May 14, 2025 | Photo by Erick Diaz Veliz
Attendees at the "Justice Delayed Is Still Justice Denied" event organized by NAACP in Grand Rapids City on May 14, 2025 | Photo by Erick Diaz Veliz
Attendees at the "Justice Delayed Is Still Justice Denied" event organized by NAACP in Grand Rapids City on May 14, 2025 | Photo by Erick Diaz Veliz
"Justice Delayed Is Still Justice Denied" event organized by NAACP in Grand Rapids City on May 14, 2025 | Photo by Erick Diaz Veliz
NAACP president, Cle Jackson, at the "Justice Delayed Is Still Justice Denied" event organized by NAACP in Grand Rapids City on May 14, 2025 | Photo by Erick Diaz Veliz
Attendees at the "Justice Delayed Is Still Justice Denied" event organized by NAACP in Grand Rapids City on May 14, 2025 | Photo by Erick Diaz Veliz
Attendees at the "Justice Delayed Is Still Justice Denied" event organized by NAACP in Grand Rapids City on May 14, 2025 | Photo by Erick Diaz Veliz
Attendees at the "Justice Delayed Is Still Justice Denied" event organized by NAACP in Grand Rapids City on May 14, 2025 | Photo by Erick Diaz Veliz
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