Aly Bates News Today

People gathered on the steps of the Kent County Courthouse two years to the date from when Patrick Lyoya was shot and killed by an officer with the Grand Rapids Police Department.

The Grand Rapids police officer who shot and killed Patrick Lyoya following a traffic stop and struggle on April 4 will be charged with one count of second-degree murder the Kent County prosecutor announced Thursday afternoon.

"Its like I want to stop the world and scream my son has died," Christina Muimneach said a year after Travis Nagdy was shot to death in Louisville.

Credit City of Grand Rapids Grand Rapids police chief Eric Payne plans to retire next year, after two years of leading the department. Payne first joined GRPD in 1987. He took over as the department’s first Black police chief in the summer of 2019, promising there would be changes. By 2020, the calls for change amplified nationwide after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the killing of Breonna Taylor. On May 30 last year, a daytime peaceful protest against police in Grand Rapids ...

Grand Rapids City Commission holds final public hearing before budget vote It was open to any topic related to the city budget, but every caller shared an opinion on increased GRPD funding. Author: Nate Belt Updated: 11:40 PM EDT May 18, 2021 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Tuesday night, Grand Rapids commissioners once again heard from those who support the police and those who want to defund the Grand Rapids Police Department. The public hearing lasted more than an hou...

Opinions for and against ‘defunding the police’ voiced to Grand Rapids city commissioners Updated 7:21 AM; Today 7:21 AM Grand Rapids elected leaders this week are slated to approve the citys spending plan for fiscal year 2022. Pictured is the Grand Rapids City Commission on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. (MLive file photo)Cory Morse | MLive.com Facebook Share GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Arguments for and against defunding the city’s police department were on full display in the public’s last chance ...

Lester Graham / Michigan Radio Members of the Michigan-based protest movements that formed in the wake of George Floyd’s killing say Derek Chauvin’s murder conviction is a vindication of their cause. Leaders from the protest movement called Detroit Will Breathe gathered with supporters in the snow in front of Detroit Police Headquarters just after the Chauvin verdict on Tuesday evening. They said the verdict shows the power of their movement, but it’s hardly the end point. “Today i...

‘Still need to fight for justice,’ Grand Rapids protesters say after murder conviction in George Floyd death Updated 11:09 PM; Facebook Share GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Leaders of a Grand Rapids group aimed at stopping police injustice say the murder verdict in George Floyd’s death brings hope, but more work is needed to curb police wrongdoing. A handful of people initially showed up in downtown Grand Rapids just minutes after the verdict came down at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 20 against former Min...

Keep going, Activists march in Grand Rapids following Chauvin verdict "It is up to us to keep going. Its fantastic the system finally acknowledged that, but theres a lot of families who havent had that acknowledgement yet." Credit: WZZM-13 Published: 6:06 PM EDT April 20, 2021 Updated: 7:36 PM EDT April 20, 2021 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Organizers gathered in downtown Grand Rapids on Tuesday shortly after a jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvi...

Local demonstrators continue push for justice amid Daunte Wrights death and last updated 2021-04-16 23:23:49-04 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Protesters gathered in Rosa Parks Circle on Friday to call for change following the police killing of Daunte Wright in Minnesota last weekend. “Daunte Wright was someone’s child, someone’s boyfriend, a friend, and a father,” said Aly Bates, Justice for Black Lives president. The young, Minneapolis-area man was shot and killed by a Brookly...