NAACP Response to Video of Police Killing Patrick Lyoya

WASHINGTON DC - NAACP President Derrick Johnson issued the following statement in response to the police cam video showing a law enforcement officer killing Patrick Lyoya in Grand Rapids, Michigan:

"This is horrifying, heartbreaking, and deeply frustrating because we had meaningful legislation designed to avoid exactly what we are all witnessing in this video. The law enforcement officer involved has blood on his hands, and so do the partisan senators who killed the George Floyd Justice In Policing Act, a bill aimed at reducing police brutality and holding law enforcement accountable for egregious abuses of power.

An unregistered license plate should not be a death sentence. Another Black man has died at the hands of police, and the officer in this video has got to be held accountable.

President Biden, sign the police reform executive order now. While we fully understand an executive order is not a substitute for meaningful legislation, we must do everything in our power to protect our community. This executive order is not sufficient, but it is necessary."