The video seems clear: Patrick Lyoya disobeyed an officer during a traffic stop, tried to run, then wrestled with the officer over his Taser before the officer fatally shot him in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
For a number of Black men and women, resisting arrest during encounters with police for even minor traffic stops have been deadly. Experts say anxiety levels of the people stopped and even the officers involved can be high, adding to the tension.
George Floyd’s 2020 slaying by Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, the 2014 strangulation death of Eric Garner by a New York City officer and the shooting death of Michael Brown that same year by an officer in Ferguson, Missouri, are among high-profile encounters that proved deadly for Black men.
A store employee called police, saying Floyd allegedly tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. Police stopped Garner on suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes. An officer confronted Brown and a companion as they walked to Brown’s home from a convenience store. Brown was shot after scuffling with the officer. All three men were unarmed.
“Because of the way police are commonly portrayed, there can be anxiety for young men of color when they are pulled over,” said Jason Johnson, president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund. “‘Am I going to get a ticket? Am I going to get arrested?’ They may believe they are going to be a victim of abuse. Many times they enter into these interactions thinking they are going to be a victim of brutality.”
In 2015, a white police officer in Columbia, South Carolina, pulled over Walter Scott, a 50-year-old Black man, for a broken brake light. A bystander’s video captured the two tumbling to the ground after the officer hit Scott with a Taser. The officer then shot Scott as he tried to run.
In Lyoya’s case, some — including his family and their high-profile attorney, Ben Crump — have said the 26-year-old Congolese refugee was slain for…
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