There are reasons why the Kent County Prosecutor will not re-charge Schurr for murdering Patrick Lyoya

Late Thursday morning, Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker made the announcement that he would not re-charge former GRPD cop Christopher Schurr for shooting Patrick Lyoya in the back of the head. Simply put, Becker said, “I just don’t see a place where we get 12 people to agree.” 

We may never know the real reasons that Chris Becker decided to not re-charge Schurr, but there are certainly some factors that play into the Kent County Prosecutor’s decision. 

First, the GRPD union contributed $1,000 to Becker’s campaign in 2016, according to the campaign finance records found online. However, the GRPD police union is not the only law enforcement entity to contribute to Becker’s campaign over the years. Former Kent Count Sheriff Larry Stelma and current Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young have both made contributions. In addition, there was a $1000 contribution in 2016 from the Kent County Sheriff Law Enforcement (How it was listed on the campaign finance document), which I can only conclude is the Sheriff’s Department union.

Equally important are the contributions that Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker has received from the legal system. Looking at the records for the past two election cycles, Becker has received campaign contributions from at least 30 different lawyers, with several of them connected to the Kent County Prosecutor’s office, along with 6 current or retired judges. These are all people who are part of the punishment system, also known as the Criminal Justice System. 

Second, there are the contributions from member of the Grand Rapids Power Structure over the past three election cycles.

2016 Election

• J.C. Huizenga $500
• Peter Secchia $2,500
• Steven Van Andel $500
• Cheri DeVos $1,000
• Dan DeVos $1,000
• Pam DeVos $1,000
• Dick DeVos $1,000
• Betsy DeVos $1,000
• Richard DeVos $1,000
• Helen DeVos $1,000
• Doug DeVos $1,000
• Maria DeVos $1,000

2020 Election

• Cheri DeVos $4,000
• Dick DeVos $2,000
• Dan DeVos $2,000
• Doug & Maria DeVos $4,000
• Pam DeVos $2,000

2024 Election  

• TGIF Victory Fund – $20,000
• Cheri DeVos – $8,325
• Steve Ehmann – $8,325
• Doug DeVos – $8,325
• Maria DeVos – $8,325
• Dick DeVos – $8,325
• Betsy DeVos – $8,325
• Daniel DeVos – $8,325
• Pamela DeVos – $8,325
• Joan Secchia – $4,000
• Charlie Secchia – $2,000
• John Kennedy – $2,000
• Jim Williams – $2,000
• David Van Andel – $2,000
• Carol Van Andel – $2,000
• Mike Ellis – $1,000
• Mark Murray – $1,000
• Tom Bylenga – $1,000
• Mark Bissell – $1,000

The DeVos family alone contributed $89,600 to Chris Becker over the past 3 election cycles, which is small change for them, but it still makes their family the single largest contributor to Becker’s campaign. There is one point about the contributions in 2020 and 2024, which I believe to be relevant as well, as it speaks to the longterm interests of Billionaires like the DeVos family.

You can see that the amount of money given by each DeVos family member increased from 2016 to 2020 to 2024. In looking at the contributions from the DeVos family in 2020, all of those contributions were made on July 10th, 2020. Why is that important? Well, it was only six weeks after the riot/uprising in Grand Rapids because of the police murder of George Floyd. It is my contention that Becker received an increase in campaign funds from the most power family in Grand Rapids, just weeks after the riot/uprising, since the DeVos family knew that Becker would be prosecuting people arrested during the riot/uprising. 

The DeVos family has all of their foundation offices, their financial investment firm, RDV Corp, Windquest and a slew of hotels they own, all of which are located in downtown Grand Rapids. The Capitalist Class has vested interests that must be protected by the state and Becker has not disappointed in the cases he presided over regarding property destruction during the riot/uprising of 2020. 

It is deeply troubling that Chris Becker has relied on the DeVos family and other members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure to get elected to the Prosecutor’s Office, and that their contributions increased after their investments were threatened by protestors in 2020 and the continued resistance since then up until today. 

I can’t help but believe that the DeVos family continues to have conversations with Grand Rapids and Kent County elected officials over the potential threat to their downtown interests in the aftermath of the GRPD murder of Patrick Lyoya. After all, this is how systems of power function and we need to come to terms with this. The legal system in Kent County is not broken, it is doing exactly what it was designed to do – protect property and the financial interests of those with power. Once we understand this, we can develop more effective strategies of resistance.