“We’ve received a number of questions, calls, from constituents about the mistrial.”
Greater Grand Rapids NAACP President Cle Jackson says they held the listening session to obtain feedback from the community on how it’s feeling about the Christopher Schurr mistrial.
“And so as a result of what we hear, we’re going to be doing some data analysis, and then we will determine from there based on the feedback that we get from community, how do we move forward with respect to the city, the state, and the federal level, and especially when it comes to true and real systemic reform.”
Three years ago, ex-Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr, who is white, was charged with the second-degree murder of Patrick Lyoya, a black motorist. Last week, a judge declared a mistrial when the jury became deadlocked. Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker has yet to decide if he’ll retry the case.
Kentwood resident and attendee Thornell Billingslea said he was saddened by the mistrial and hopes the case is retried with a more diverse jury. Of those jurors, ten were white, three Hispanic and one biracial.
“For this stuff to continue, I’ve seen it since I was a little boy growing up in Detroit, and it continues to happen and what do we do about it? I don’t know.”
Organizers say the NAACP will analyze the feedback from the listening session and issue a formal public demand representing a clear, actionable, and community-rooted call to action.
