The Grand Rapids cop charged with second-degree murder after shooting an unarmed Black man was fired from his position last Friday, according to officials. “Last Friday, the Police Chief and the Labor Relations Office recommended that I terminate Christopher Schurr’s employment with the City,” city manager Mark Washington said in a statement. “I accepted that recommendation.” Earlier this month, Schurr was charged with murder for shooting Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, after a traffic stop. “Where have you been for the last two months and nearly two weeks?” asked family attorney Ven Johnson. Johnson reiterated that the Lyoya family has been calling for the city to fire Schurr from the moment their son was killed. “Once they found out that [Lyoya] was unarmed,—once they found out and had the video that my client was facedown in the dirt, it’s raining, no shoes on, right,” charged Johnson. “And Shurr was on top of his back, reaches back to his gun ... bypasses the handcuffs, pulls out his gun and blows off the back of my client’s head, he should have been fired that day.” Robert Womack, a Kent County commissioner who has advocated on behalf of the Lyoya family, called Schurr’s termination "a major occurrence here in Grand Rapids.” Womack charged that the local police union holds much so political power in the city that a lack of accountability for officers accused of misconduct against Black community members often goes unchallenged by City Hall. “That’s how Grand Rapids work. Now, they’re being pretty quiet. They're taking this serious. ”
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