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Grand Rapids Officer Charged with Murder in Shooting of Suspect Who Seized Control of Taser

Grand Rapids Officer Charged with Murder in Shooting of Suspect Who Seized Control of Taser

Officer Christopher Schurr repeatedly ordered Lyoya to yield control of the device, to stop fighting, and to comply with lawful arrest, and Patrick Lyoya continued to violently fight the officer and struggle for control of the Taser.

In what appears to be yet another politically-motivated prosecution of a white police officer who lawfully defended himself from a violent, non-compliant black suspect, Grand Rapids Officer Christopher Schurr has been charged with second-degree murder over the April 4, 2022 shooting death of Patrick Lyoya, according to FOX News.

I previously wrote about this case right here at Legal Insurrection back in April:

Reminder: Fighting a Cop for Control of Taser Will Likely Get You Lawfully Shot

If interested, I also did a YouTube live stream earlier today discussing the charging of Officer Schurr:

The charges coming a full two months after the event, and in the absence of any additional evidence having been developed in the interim, has all the indicia of a show trial pursued for purposes of political gain rather than justice.

Indeed, the reporting of these charges and the background around the shooting by even FOX News, hardly a left-wing media organization, comes across as thoroughly propagandistic, rather than intending to inform.

By recounting the event using half-truths, the news report suggests to the reader that Officer Schurr stood over a fallen and helpless Patrick Lyoya and shot him through the head in a cold-blooded execution:

A Michigan police officer who fatally shot a Black man in the back of the head as he was on the ground during a traffic stop was charged Thursday with murder.

What actually happened in this use-of-force event has been known from the start, thanks to video from Officer Schurr’s body camera and taken by bystanders, and the reality bears little resemblance to that description of an execution of a helpless black suspect by a white officer.

You can view those collected videos here, where they were presented as part of a media conference by Schurr’s department:

Officer Schurr pulled over the vehicle that Lyoya was driving because the license plate did not match the vehicle.  This is, of course, a perfectly legitimate reason for a traffic stop.

Then when Officer Schurr asked Lyoya for his driver’s license, Lyoya sought to flee the traffic stop.  This is unlawful flight from a lawful detention, and Officer Schurr was fully within his authority to use reasonable force to compel Lyoya’s compliance with the detention.

At that point Officer Schurr went hands on with Lyoya, using bare-hand force and pursuit of Lyoya to enforce the driver’s lawful detention.  As Lyoya continued to violently resist, Schurr appropriately escalated his force by drawing his Taser.  At that point Lyoya began to fight Schurr for control of the Taser.

Reports vary as to whether the Taser’s projectiles were exhausted in the course of this struggle, but even if the device was not longer able to hurl electrified darts it was still fully capable of being used in “drive” mode to disable by pressing the “muzzle” of the device against the target’s body.

By this point the fight had gone to the ground, with both men scrambling on the grass as they wrestled for control of the Taser.  Officer Schurr repeatedly ordered Lyoya to yield control of the device, to stop fighting, and to comply with lawful arrest, and Lyoya continued to violently fight the officer and struggle for control of the Taser.

We normally think of Tasers as “less than lethal” devices, because when used lawfully by police officers the intent is to neutralize suspects into compliance without having to inflict deadly force upon them (e.g., shoot them with a service pistol).

In fact and law, however, whether a particular application of a Taser qualifies as merely non-deadly force or as deadly force depends on the manner of its use. Tasers, when they function as intended, cause substantial disablement of the target.  When such disablement is done for the lawful purposes of stopping further violence, such as in self-defense or to compel compliance with lawful arrest, this effect is properly understood to be an application of non-deadly force.

In contrast, when a Taser is used to disable a target for unlawful purposes, the effect and reasonably inferred subsequent unlawful conduct is properly understood to be deadly force—that is, force readily capable of inflicting either death or serious bodily harm.

Indeed, the disablement induced by the Taser alone is sufficient to qualify as serious bodily harm when inflicted in the absence of a lawful purpose.  On top of that, it is reasonable to infer that, unlike in cases of self-defense or lawful arrest, when a Taser is used to disable a target that the disablement will be followed by further unlawful force upon the target.

This should hardly need saying, but the disablement of a suspect by a police officer by use of a Taser to compel compliance with lawful arrest is in no way comparable to the use of a Taser by a violent suspect upon a police officer, who once disabled is subject to being killed with his own pistol.

A reasonable analogy would be that of handcuffing.  When an officer handcuffs a suspect in the course of making a lawful arrest of that suspect, there is no basis for inferring that the officer intends to inflict any further force upon that suspect.  In contrast, when a kidnapper handcuffs his victim, it is reasonable to infer further harm to that victim.  The handcuffs are the same, the act of snapping them on wrists is the same, but the intent and purpose is entirely different.

In this instance, Officer Schurr could not simply allow himself to be disabled by the violently resisting Lyoya.  The two men were in effect engaged in a gun fight—the gun being that on Schurr’s belt, which his department requires him to carry in precisely such circumstances.  A pretty good indication that a suspect is intending to inflict physical violence upon a police officer is when the suspect is already inflicting physical violence upon that officer—as Lyoya was doing here.

Indeed, under the rationale of this murder charge against Officer Schurr, it is hard to understand why officers would carry Tasers at all, knowing that the moment a suspect begins to violently fight them for control of the Taser the officer is supposed to allow themselves to be disabled by the Taser and subject to being killed by that violently resisting suspect.

You should expect our continued coverage of this newest instance of an apparently politically-motivated prosecution of a good police officer, especially if it goes to televised trial.

–Andrew

Attorney Andrew F. Branca
Law of Self Defense LLC
Lawofselfdefense.com/YouTube

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Comments

These DAs are pushing BLM Marxism and trying to destroy the police.

    retiredcantbefired in reply to Skip. | June 11, 2022 at 12:41 pm

    Who is the DA in this case? Was he or she elected with Soros backing?

    That could be the end game, but Cloward-Piven is the method:

    The Cloward-Piven Strategy: Orchestrating A Crisis So Government Can “Solve” It:
    https://conduitforaction.org/the-cloward-piven-strategy-orchestrating-a-crisis-so-government-can-solve-it/

    Joe Biden is a TOTAL traitor. When the GOP takes Congress, does anyone here have ANY faith in the GOPe undoing the damage that Pelosi/Schumer/Biden/McConnell have done – that is, hearings on all their corruption, defunding the FBI’s political units, etc etc etc?

      LukeGarou in reply to TheFineReport.com. | June 12, 2022 at 12:21 am

      “When” they take it?
      I have no confidence that our elections will be any more secure than they were in 2018 or 2020.
      And no, of course the gop won’t do a single relevant thing about the corruption. They are largely establishment drones themselves, and the few fringe actors, like MTG, can be locked out of a detention facility by the African migrants staffing it as they laugh and mock her, holding political prisoners within for more abuse.
      This nation has fallen, and the fact that so many refuse to admit that reality to themselves guarantees that nothing will rise from these ashes.

        sestamibi in reply to LukeGarou. | June 12, 2022 at 1:05 pm

        Everything you say is true, but it’s a lot harder to steal an election across 435 house districts. When you fraudulently pad the totals in deep blue urban areas, those can alter the outcome of statewide elections for presidential electors and US senators, but can only goose the margins of Dems in inner city House districts who would win anyway.

JackinSilverSpring | June 10, 2022 at 5:11 pm

Grand Rapids seems to want to emulate Minneapolis and Chicago.

    alaskabob in reply to JackinSilverSpring. | June 10, 2022 at 6:22 pm

    It’s Whitmer’s Michigan. Grand Rapids, Detroit, Flint, etc would go up in smoke. The state is enclave central. I would provide a 6 month grace period for anyone moving from Mich to a red state… but after that… close the residency option. Of course, wishful thinking until Biden has a new plan to pay for the relocation of minorities throughout the country to create equity.

Not a Capital Hill “hero” electing to abort an unarmed woman in a prone position, or an officer electing to abort an unarmed woman seeking police aid, or a member of any other unprotected class (e.g. “our Posterity”) who are otherwise politically incongruent to social progress.

The Gentle Grizzly | June 10, 2022 at 5:45 pm

The probable reality: the DA and the city fathers met with the local tribal chieftains ”Reverends” and were told Grand Rapids would burn unless the cop was sacrificed.

E Howard Hunt | June 10, 2022 at 6:43 pm

I am beginning to hate cops myself. Why? They cower and fear for their pensions rather than standup and fight like a band of brothers when something like this happens to one of their comrades. Why don’t they all walk off the job? Why didn’t they establish a a multi-million dollar defense fund nationally to defend Derek Chauvin with a crack team. The answer is they are a bunch of pussies whose only bravery exists in their own minds as they watch direct to cable cop movies.

    The Gentle Grizzly in reply to E Howard Hunt. | June 10, 2022 at 7:11 pm

    I grew up in Los Angeles during the Parker regime at LAPD and the equally nasty Pitchess regime at LA County Sheriffs.

    I don’t hate them but I have a very healthy distrust for any LEO. The Supreme Court decision that lets them lie. Throw-down weapons and baggies of dope. The spent shell casing “found” in your car in jurisdictions where that alone gets you jailed. Being questioned about who you are and your business because you – a stranger in town – went into “their” restaurant.

    taurus the judge in reply to E Howard Hunt. | June 11, 2022 at 6:27 am

    you are fundamentally fatally f*ck@d up and full of sh!t without a clue on the subject you pontificate on from the depression on your couch.

    Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

    sestamibi in reply to E Howard Hunt. | June 12, 2022 at 1:08 pm

    They’re losing support even among those of us on the Right, who longer Back the Blue unconditionally. We now have militarized local police forces (courtesy of surplus US defense materiel) who don’t act in a military fashion when the situation actually requires it. They are more concerned with their pensions, not taking risks, and padding their departments’ local budgets with revenue from traffic violations, parking tickets, and civil asset forfeiture.

Keep digging the hole NFL

And NEVER apologize

NEVER!!!

Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio had a busy week commenting on — and apologizing for remarks about — the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which he initially downplayed as a “dust-up” in comparison to riots across the country the prior summer. On Friday, his head coach, Ron Rivera, made him pay for it. Rivera met with Del Rio to express disappointment in the latter’s remarks, then announced in a team statement that he’s fined the defensive coordinator $100,000, which will be donated to the U.S. Capitol Police Memorial Fund.

“(Coach Del Rio’s) comments do not reflect the organization’s views and are extremely hurtful to our great community in the DMV,” Rivera said. “As we saw last night in the (Congress) hearings, what happened on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was an act of domestic terrorism. A group of citizens attempted to overturn the results of a free and fair election, and as a result, lives were lost and the Capitol building was damaged.

From the charging document:

“The white supremacist, so-called “police officer,” did obnoxiously place his body in the way of self-defense blows delivered by the victim’s righteous hands and feet of color.”

Ex-Oligarch | June 10, 2022 at 7:23 pm

@Andrew

Informative article, as usual. Appreciate your efforts.
I’m just wondering if you gave any thought to “naming and shaming” the prosecutors who brought the indictment. I realize they may be looking for publicity, but I don’t think any reader of your article (or anyone who watches the videos for that matter) would have a positive opinion of their decision to charge the officer. I’m sure that at the very least, the name of the lead prosecutor will be mentioned in fawning mainstream media coverage — why not mention it in your critical piece as well?

When every cop walks off the force to protest these political marxist directed witch hunts I’ll support the police. Until then they can all go to hell where they belong.

    healthguyfsu in reply to Barry. | June 10, 2022 at 8:32 pm

    Oh look another brave keyboard warrior telling other people how to do their jobs.

    How about supporting people that are put in bad situations by leftists instead of making demands…like a leftist.

      mbecker908 in reply to healthguyfsu. | June 11, 2022 at 12:43 pm

      The people who typically are “put in bad situations by leftists” are the people who voted for those leftistst.

      LukeGarou in reply to healthguyfsu. | June 12, 2022 at 12:29 am

      They put themselves in these positions. They gladly harass and arrest Americans (ie right-wingers) for even looking like they might protect themselves at a rally or march, and kneel in solidarity with BLM. They play gotcha games with the help of the ATF and other corrupt feds who are plainly in absolute rebellion against the rule of law and on a rabid war path against honest patriots.

      Let them burn, they brought it on themselves. Anyone “backing the blue” at this point is literally begging to end up their next victim. Tell me how much you love them if you should find yourself needing to protect your family from a holy minority member, as they protect the violent outraged mob outside your home and then cuff you and haul you away for your very own politically motivated show trial.

        healthguyfsu in reply to LukeGarou. | June 12, 2022 at 8:17 pm

        Yes, I’m sure it was the exact same cops arresting “right wingers” and kneeling with BLM considering they are in completely different cities and states.

    Barry, unless you’re Barry Obama: don’t play into the left’s hands on this ‘hate-the=cops’ bullshit.

    Char Char Binks in reply to Barry. | June 13, 2022 at 7:27 am

    Good ol’ FIDO to the rescue.

I predict this is going to be another George Zimmerman / Kyle Rittenhouse show trial. The fact pattern is in no way favorable to the prosecution, and if you think the anti-police activists represent typical Grand Rapids jurors, you’re sorely mistaken. There’s a lot more Dutch Calvinist than BLM.

    Danny in reply to Flatworm. | June 10, 2022 at 9:58 pm

    Will there be a judge who shuts down prosecutorial misconduct as happened in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse or a judge who keeps obvious activists and hidden activists off the jury as happened in the case of George Zimmerman or will it be a Leftist judge?

    Furthermore will the judge permit a livestreamed trial or will it be closed to the public?

    There are a million ways you could manipulate even the best jury if the judge is on your side.

    CarlosT in reply to Flatworm. | June 11, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    It could be another Kim Potter. The fact pattern and law indicated she should have been acquitted, but that didn’t mean anything.

TheOldZombie | June 10, 2022 at 8:06 pm

I was shocked this officer was charged. I saw the video when it first came out. There is no way he should have been charged.

I hope he gets a fair jury? Probably good for him that he’s not in Detroit itself.

Every cop in that state should be hot under the collar and refusing to carry or use a taser. Or just flat out refusing to work since he was charged until the state starts standing up for these officers.

healthguyfsu | June 10, 2022 at 8:34 pm

I’m sure this will whip up right around September/October…total coincidence.

My comment on a Grand Rapids news site:

The Lyoya shooting was as obvious a necessary shoot as you will ever see. Lyoya refused to stop fighting for control of Officer Schurr’s weapon. Did Grand Rapids hire the Soros-backed prosecutor who just got booted out of office by the radical leftists in San Francisco for being too leftist?

This case is on a par with the shooting of Alton Sterling, who kept trying to pull a gun out of his pocket while one officer fought to keep him from pulling it out and the other held a gun to his head and told him that if he didn’t stop trying to murder them he was going to have to shoot him.

It’s so incredibly racist when people side with these attempted murderers over the people they were trying to murder purely because they are partial to the race of the attempted murderer. That is racial sympathy for murder, which is the most evil extreme of racism possible.

And now we apparently have another one of these Soros prosecutors, straight up on the side of the criminals, pretending it is murder for the police to defend themselves against perps who are fighting them for control of an officer’s own weapons.

EVERYONE who goes for an officer’s weapon should be immediately shot. There should be punishment for any officer who FAILS to shoot a perp who is going for any officer’s weapon. Demotion. Stop being so insanely lenient on criminals just because of their race.

But this prosecutor is ENFORCING race-based lenience. If the perp is of a particular race, he can’t be stopped from going for an officer’s weapon.

Good luck Grand Rapids. You are getting what you voted for, and you are going to get it good and hard. The criminals now run your city, all the way up to the prosecutor’s office.

When the criminals come for you my first question will be: “who did you vote for?”

    Char Char Binks in reply to AlecRawls. | June 13, 2022 at 7:42 am

    They don’t have to be Soros prosecutors to be targeted by agitators and cowed by the mob. The Left has perfected the mechanism of anarcho-tyranny; it works on those in positions of authority whether they’re in agreement or not.

Read the book 12 Seconds in the Dark: A Police Officer’s Firsthand Account of the Breonna Taylor Raid by Sergeant John Mattingly. Informative and from a police officer involved in a high profile case.

AF_Chief_Master_Sgt | June 11, 2022 at 9:53 am

Imagine if you will… a school full of children, an armed intruder intent on killing as many of those students as possible. Proof of this based on the amount of ammunition and other weapons.

The police arrive wait outside with no intent of entering the building to stop the assassin, and save more than a dozen children.

Could it be that thoughts of Derek Chauvin, Darren Wilson, and a host of other officers prosecuted for the “murder” of violent “people of color” ran through their mind.

A “brown” assailant is murdering children, but the police officers don’t want to be prosecuted for shooting the “White Latino.”

Now we have another instance where a police officer is being prosecuted for shooting a violent “person of color” who apparently is a repeat offender.

So, prepare yourselves ladies an gentlemen. More violent “peaceful protestors” will come to your town as our society erodes. Justice will no longer be served because many young leftists believe that judges, jurors, and politicians who stand for justice are ripe for assassination. Police will be hounded and prosecuted.

Judges will no longer hold criminals accountable since protestors and attempted murderers will show up to their door and threaten their families.

Welcome to Venezuela north.

Meanwhile, man attempting to sneak into grade school in Birminghan AL shot dead after being confronted by SRO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5X3sJmm3g4

Don’t expect the MSM to report this.

Gee, I wonder why?

NYPD exodus: Police on pace to quit, retire in record numbers

https://nypost.com/2022/06/11/nypd-cops-on-pace-to-quit-retire-in-record-numbers/

The dems launching these persecutions is working like a charm.

Anyone familiar with the Texas drag show for kids should note that the police there should be aware that the police sanctioned leftist violence against the people protesting the event and tried to arrest victims of leftist violence.

There has been no evidence of any effort to stop the man who keeps swatting Tim Pool and Jeremy from the Quatering

The Democrats are succeeding at getting good cops out and bringing bad cops in via ridiculous persecutions like this.