Shortly after the April 4th fatal shooting death of Patrick Lyoya, Cle Jackson, President of the Greater Grand Rapids NAACP, spoke with Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker.
“I didn’t actually say, ‘You need to recuse yourself.’ I said, ‘Are you considering recusing?’ And he said, ‘No. I don’t know why I would?’ So, we just left it there.”
Fast forward to Tuesday, Jackson picked up the phone as a professional courtesy and called Becker asking if he had reconsidered? When Becker responded he had not, the request was made public.
In response, Prosecutor Becker issued a statement that under state law, a county prosecutor must recuse themselves from a case if there’s a conflict of interest. “Because I do not know Officer Christopher Schurr, nor did I know Patrick Lyoya, the legal standard for recusal has not been met.”
“It’s not important to us that he doesn’t have a personal relationship with Patrick Lyoya or this officer. That doesn’t matter. The fact that he has a historical relationship with the Grand Rapids Police Department is very troubling and problematic. That’s what we see. That’s what community sees.”
As an elected official running for office in 2016, Becker received a $1,000 campaign donation from the Grand Rapids Police Officers Association.
Jackson says his organization will now ask the Michigan Attorney General’s office to take the case. If circumstances prohibit involvement, an appeal will be made to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan.
