Local commercial news coverage of the 2nd anniversary of Patrick Lyoya’s murder and the organized events by grassroots activists

Last Thursday was the 2nd anniversary of the murder of Patrick Lyoya at the hands of the GRPD. April 4th, 2002, the GRPD had Lyoya pulled over after they ran his plates. The GRPD cop who confronted Lyoya chased him for a while then got him on the ground, where Patrick was face down, and then shot him in the back of the head, execution style.

The lawyers representing the GRPD cop who killed Patrick Lyoya have used the legal system to delay having a try, they even attempted to have the courts determine that no trial was necessary. 

Over the past 2 years, GRIID has been following the case and regularly commenting on the boas that the local commercial news media has practiced concerning justice for Patrick Lyoya. Last week, I saw a very similar type of reporting from the local commercial news media, specifically on the 2nd anniversary coverage, plus the two actions that were organized by the autonomous group Comrades Collective.

2nd anniversary coverage

All four of the local daily commercial news agencies did their obligatory 2nd anniversary stories. Thew MLive story did sort of a comparison between the case of George Floyd and Patrick Lyoya, citing legal experts, the lawyers representing the cop who murdered Patrick, the lawyer representing the Lyoya family and one judge. It is important to note that Patrick’s family was not cited in the story, nor any of the numerous groups and organizations that have been fighting to demand justice for Patrick Lyoya. 

The TV news coverage for the 2nd anniversary of Patrick’s murder was not much better. The WOODTV8 story provided a summary of the legal case, along with use of the body cam video from the day that Patrick was murdered. The reporter said they were going to speak with people who had been marching, but instead the story cited the lawyer representing the Lyoya family, along with Dee Jones, who has been to protests, but also commented that the City has been listening, a sentiment that most people who have been organizing on behalf of Patrick would not agree with. The 6 minute story then shifts to comments from Cle Jackson with the NAACP, who criticized the delays in the trial. In addition, WOODTV8 used a quote from Chief Winstrom about what his department has done since the murder, although the reporter doesn’t question the validity of the comment. The 2nd anniversary story ends with a preview of the candlelight vigil. 

The WZZM13 story on the 2nd anniversary was much shorter and relied exclusively on the lawyer representing the Lyoya family and local law professors. The WXMI 17 story was also shorter and they cited no one for their story, simply providing a rehash of the body cam footage and an overview of the legal case. 

Candlelight Vigil

All four of the daily news agencies reported on the candlelight vigil that was organized by the Comrades Collective. The MLive article provided an overview of the candlelight vigil, plus they did provide an excerpt from the statement that the Comrades Collective had released to the news media. In fact, MLive was the only local commercial news agency to include at least part of that statement.

WOODTV8 included a short overview of the legal case, but most of the story was about the Comrades Collective organized vigil. Unfortunately, the channel 8 reporter talk to former Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack, who said just the opposite of what the statement the Comrades Collective had released for the 2nd anniversary. 

The WZZM13 story used too much of the body cam video, but at least the centered the voices of Patrick’s family who also spoke at the candlelight vigil. Lastly, the WXMI 17 story spent almost half of their coverage rehashing the case, also using lots of body cam footage. However, the story then did include several comments from Patrick’s father and brother, along with comments from one of the local activists.

March for Patrick Lyoya

Unfortunately, the only local commercial news agency to report on the march that was held on April 6, was WXMI 17. The march was also organized by the comrades collective. The Fox 17 reporters were present for several hours during the march, yet the story was only 2 minutes and 26 seconds long. The story provides an overview of the march and mentions the two times that the GRPD either detained or arrest people who were safety cars behind the march, but they never mentioned the charges or why the GRPD was so hell bent on harassing and intimidating the marchers. The WXMI 17 story did cited members of the Lyoya family who participated in the march, a former cop who marched and a member of the Grand Rapids School Board who also showed up to protest the lack of justice for Patrick Lyoya. 

Overall, the coverage of the 2nd anniversary of Patrick Lyoya’s murder mostly rehashed information the public already knew. The coverage of the candlelight vigil and the march did center the voices of the Lyoya family, but mostly ignored or excluded the perspective of the group that organized both events. More importantly, the local news coverage failed to further investigate the impact Patrick’s murder has had on the community, along with failing to question the ongoing function of policing in Grand Rapids, which continues to suppress activists and target the most marginalized communities.