Family, friends and supporters of Patrick Lyoya packed the Renaissance Church of God in Christ Friday morning to pay their respects and lay to rest Patrick Lyoya, the 26-year-old Congolese immigrant who died after being shot in the back of the head by a Grand Rapids Police Officer.
Lyoya was unarmed.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who paid the Lyoya family’s burial expenses, also gave the funeral’s eulogy, where he called out the City of Grand Rapids for not releasing the identity of the police officer.
“Talking about we won’t release the name until he is charged,” Sharpton said. “Every time a young black man is arrested in this town you put their name all over the news,” he said. “How dare you.”
Meanwhile, Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump, the same lawyer who represented George Floyd’s family in Minneapolis, said his legal team vowed to pursue indictments and lawsuits in the days ahead.
A large protest is expected Saturday in Grand Rapids.
