Photos: Facebook\Twitter
On Thursday, in a conversation with Black Star News publisher, Milton Allimadi, we talked about the police penchant to lie, particularly in cases where they kill or murder innocent Black people. And by Friday, when the Grand Rapids Police were releasing documents and statements regarding the killing of Congolese immigrant Patrick Lyoya, they didn’t disappoint with their tall tales.
This initial release of documents and statements is another example of police shaping their stories to aid a criminal cop who took the Black life of an innocent man. As far as credibility goes, police continue to be their own worst enemy.
These officers, and their public relations propagandists, are the most boldface liars around whenever the topic is the ongoing genocidal cop killings of Black people.
Patrick Lyoya was killed on April 4th, so ask yourself: why are we only now being given a narrative, from the police perspective? If not to concoct a cover story why should it take this long, for so-called upholders of the law, to tell the truth? Moreover, why are we hearing from other officers and not officer Chris Schurr who committed cold-blooded murder ?
Once again, we see police lying and “circling the wagons” to coverup and conceal the crimes of a killer-cop that works with them.
Many Americans have seen the video of officer Schurr on top of Lyoya, just before he shoots him dead—with a bullet to the back of the head. What we witnessed is a criminal act of murder by a law enforcement officer. If American policing had integrity they would be leading the charge to punish these killer-cops instead of protecting them.
And, police are always defying logic with the transparent lies they tell to shield the murderers wearing badges in their midst.
In this case, Officer Schurr is being aided-and-abetted by one Sgt. Tim Johnston who is described as being the first officer to arrive after the shooting. Let’s look now at the first part of Johnston’s fabulous fable.
Sgt. Tim Johnston
“I arrived on scene and saw Officer Schurr taking cover behind a tree on the parkway which was about 20 feet south of the location of his cruiser,” said Johnston. “I observed one male lying face down… The man’s hand was concealed underneath his body near his waist possibly concealing a weapon. I did not know if the suspect had shot at Officer Schurr, but Officer Schurr had stated that he was ‘10-4′ just before I arrived.”
A couple of things here.
First, notice how Johnston tries to paint negative suspicion against Lyoya by saying his hand was “possibly concealing a weapon?” This is obviously meant to evoke fear for the safety of Schurr. Sgt. Johnston is also suggesting Schurr might have thought Lyoya had a weapon somewhere under his body before he executed him with a head shot.
Is Sgt. Johnston just dumb, or does he think we all are? Wasn’t Lyoya’s hand “concealed” because officer Schurr was sitting on top of him while he lay face down on the ground?
Let’s look at something else. Since we know Lyoya was killed instantly with a shot to the back of the head, another question is: why would Schurr be “taking cover behind a tree?”
We know officer Schurr was the only person who fired a shot. So what, or who, would he be “taking cover” from?
Here, Sgt. Johnston is now engaging in criminalizing the passenger who recorded the bystander video from inside Lyoya’s car. This is an attempt to hype the notion of officers being fearful for their lives. And then, Sgt. Johnston goes further in this tactic to make the passenger\bystander appear as another non-compliant criminal, like his friend Lyoya who now lay dead.
Some more of Sgt. Johnston’s incredulously strange story:
“A suspect vehicle (tan Nissan Altima) was in front of Officer Schurr’s fully marked GRPD police cruiser, which had its overhead lights activated. The passenger side door of the Nissan was standing open and a second subject who had presumably exited the vehicle was standing beside the Nissan on the passenger side next to the open door. He was slow to follow direction and would not keep his hands up on his head. I had to give repeated commands before he would comply.”
By stressing that Officer Schurr’s police car was “fully marked,” with “overhead lights activated” he is stressing the non-compliance accusation—while subtlety telling us that that non-compliance was why Lyoya got shot dead. He is also seeking to smear the credibility of this passenger, “the second suspect,” especially for any upcoming trial.
Here is how Sgt. Johnston described the area around Lyoya’s dead body:
“As we approached I observed a black angular object partially visible under the suspect’s left hip and initially thought it was the grip of a handgun, but as I got close enough to grab onto him I then was able to distinguish that it was Officer Schurr’s Body Camera that had apparently been dislodged during the struggle. I rolled the subject over, rolling him … onto his back. I observed that Officer Schurr’s Taser was lying underneath the suspect where his hand had been and also Officer Schurr’s Body Worn Camera, which was still recording.”
One of the questions in this case, revolves around the fact that Schurr’s body-camera did not record him murdering Lyoya. We know many cops are deactivating or removing the bodycams before they kill Black people, as has happened in several other cases.
So, take note of how Sgt. Johnston gives Schurr a excuse for the bodycam issue by saying it was likely “dislodged during the struggle” and “was still recording.” He also seems to be insinuating that in this scenario, the dislodged bodycam may’ve possibly been mistaken by Schurr for a gun.
Now isn’t this a convenient story to coverup police murder?
The only thing more outrageous than the continued police killings and murders of Black people are the flagrant lies and falsifications police take part in to pervert true justice. We’re seeing it here again as the Grand Rapids Police are obviously trying to prevent officer Chris Schurr from facing accountability for murdering Patrick Layoya.
