State of Emergency Town Hall held last night, asking the question, where do we go from here?

Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack made some opening remarks, with vague language and no condemnation of systems of power and oppression. This sort of set the tone for the 3 hour meeting held at the Wealthy Theater. 

An estimated 200 people were in attendance to hear from some 20 panelists, which included lawyers, civil rights groups, activists and family members of several of the recent police killings in Kent County. What follows are comments made by the panelists, most of whom were responding to the questions that Commissioner Womack had asked.

Ven Johnson, the lawyer representing the Lyoya family was asked to speak first.  Johnson made some useful remarks about the power of police unions and how they have deep pockets to pay lawyers to delay court proceedings, like in the case of Chris Schurr. Johnson said of the police unions, “they are well organized, so it is time that we are too!”

Question #1 – Why do you believe the trial of officer Schurr ended in a mistrial.

Erykai, who is a relative of Samuel Sterling said, “Activists have spent more time in jail than these murders have. The murderers work inside a system, so they are supported. We need support too”

Cle Jackson with the NAACP responded to the question by saying, “Let’s call it what it is, racism. Specifically in regards to the jury selection.” Jackson went on to say that we need actionable steps. Like another traffic stop study. He also said we need policies, enforcement of those polciies and transparency. “The NAACP is going to file a FOIA for the Internal Affairs complaints against Schurr.”  

Eric Brown with the Grand Rapids Urban League stated that it was a mistake that Chris Becker tried the case and that it should have been Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Commissioner Womack also criticizes the jury selection, but then stated. “I’m not going to criticize our system, but we got work to do to change our system. I want to thank the GRPD for setting me straight when I was younger.”

Aly The Activist stated that the GRPD has beat activists who have spoken out against the GRPD. She also said that the GRPD has killed more than Patrick Lyoya, with the example of Hank Wymer, a person the GRPD shot 7 times, even though he was unarmed and seeking mental health assistance.

Eduardo Montiel, who is an organizer with the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression, said that the mistrial sends a message that they (the cops) get to do what they want. He also stated that the policing system is designed this way, since it was born out of the slave patrols in the US.

Question #2 – what would you say to the Lyoya family, who are struggling to understand this justice system.

Rodney Brown stated that there are no words to say to the Lyoya family. Brown also talked about managerial racism, which is the name that Todd Robinson gives to Grand Rapids in his book, A City within a City: The Black Freedom Struggle in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Brown said that this system is not playing with the community and that as a Black man he feels that he is in a perpetual sense of grief over how Black people are treated in this city.

Erykai made the observation that when Chris Schurr came and went from the courthouse, he had a whole contingent of cops escorting him, but the Lyoya family only had 2 officers.   

Question #3 – why were trials of Schurr and Keeley happening at the same time? 

Jermar Sterling simply stated that it was meant to divide the community.

Question #4  – What message does it send with all of the court proceedings, mistrials or judges dropping charges against cops?

An African American lawyer made the claim that the Obama Administration had done more on policing than any other president, specifically though his 21st Century Police Task Force. This claim was not challenged and the lawyer did not provide clear evidence of the claim. The question I would ask is, why did the Movement for Black Lives, the movement that made police violence against Black people an issue, why did it happen during the Obama Administration?

Question #5 – After watching the video of Keeling running over Sterling, Doggett and the Lyoya case, as a former cop.

A former cop named Maurice stated that Officer Schurr had other weapons to use and didn’t use them. He also said that the System isn’t broken or flawed, but that we should be able to see a copy of the GRPD training manual. Maurice made the point that the GRPD training manual was never presented by Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker. The former cop called for Mass boycotts targeting the GR Chamber of Commerce, the tourism, sports and entertainment industries in Grand Rapids. 

Question #6 – Why didn’t any charges come in the Doggett case regarding the car? 

Ven Johnson stated that the police can do whatever they want and can get away with it. The people on top cover this shit up. They don’t want to pay up for what happened. Kent County juries have always been this way with stacked juries. He suggested that we submit a FOIA as to why so few people of color are not on these juries. He also made the point that the white jurors who are selected have never had an issue with a cop. 

Question #7 – What else can we do so that what happened to Doggett in the future?

Cle Jackson responded by saying, “I don’t really know what to do.” Jackson then went on to talk about how so few politicians ever talk about this stuff, that they should be voted out and that activists should be put into a position of running as candidates.

All of this lasted until 8pm and since there was little to no real analysis or plan of action to respond to the question – where do we go from here – I decided to leave. You can watch the entire 3 hours and 20 minutes and draw your own conclusions, but here are a few of my responses.

• Why do these town hall meetings involve panelists? Why can’t we just have an open forum, where everyone can make comments, instead of being talked at? If you are asked to be a panelist in future town halls, tell those who are hosting that you will not participate unless it is an open forum from the get go.
• During the 2 hours that I was there, no one suggested that the GRPD should be defunded or abolished. The GRPD does not really prevent crime or reduce violence, they primarily show up after something has happened. When communities have their needs met, there is no real need for cops. 
• The Black Lives Matter movement was born out of responding to policing and police violence. In 2020, they created a toolkit on how to Defund the Police, yet we act like these ideas are ridiculous or we won’t call for defunding the GRPD because I won’t get re-elected or I won’t get funding for the non-profit I work for.
• No one talked about the $69.1 million that was unanimously approved by the Grand Rapids City Commission for the GRPD two weeks ago. There there are all the other tens of millions that that is being allocated for the carceral system – the courts, new toys for the GRPD, and other entities that provide support to the cops. Imagine how that amount of money could be used to benefit the community for jobs, housing, healthy food and other basic needs that so many people don’t have.

As a long-time community organizer I grow tired of attending events that do not develop strategies and tactics to address issues like police violence and a legal system that is designed to benefit those with political and economic power. If any more of these emergency meetings are to be planned, we need to demand that they are structured differently and that by the end of the meeting we will have a plan of action. 

Photo credit in this post goes to John Rothwell.