Michigan: Ex-Cop Who Shot Patrick Lyoya to Face Murder Trial
Facts
- Christopher Schurr, a former police officer in Michigan who shot a Black man in the back of the head after pulling over his car, is going to stand trial for second-degree murder, said Judge Nicholas Ayoub on Monday.
- The US judge reached his decision after he heard testimony and viewed a video of the death of Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo who had run a stop sign when he was pulled over in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
- Lyoya was face down on the ground when Schurr, 31, shot him in the back of the head on April 4 during a scuffle over the officer's Taser. In videos of the event, Lyoya attempts to flee the scene after failing to produce his driver's license — he's then wrestled to the ground as Schurr yells at him to "drop the Taser."
- According to Judge Ayoub, a jury will have the opportunity to decide whether the now-former cop's use of lethal force was legal "after a full and fair trial."
- "The only real debatable question here is whether [the] defendant's actions were justified under the law," he said. The Lyoya family has responded positively to Ayoub's decision to allow a trial.
- Schurr's attorneys have stated that his team was disappointed by the judge's decision, but that the outcome wasn't surprising considering "the extremely low burden at this stage of the proceedings."
Sources: Al Jazeera, Associated Press, Daily Mail, CBS, CNN, and Washington Post.
Narratives
- Left narrative, as provided by Vice. Black people across the US continue to face excessive force and brutality at the hands of law enforcement authorities. Judge Ayoub's ruling marks a decisive victory for civil rights activists and residents who believe Schurr's actions were unjustified and typical of the officers' misconduct in the Grand Rapids Police Department.
- Right narrative, as provided by FOX News. The fact that Schurr will face trial only indicates that a low standard of evidence threshold has been met, not that this was necessarily an unjustified use of force. Law enforcement officers are often required to make split-second decisions that can have tragic results. Believing his life to be at risk, Schurr was forced to make a difficult decision that resulted in the tragic death of Lyoya.