GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Great Lakes News) – A Republican gubernatorial candidate is siding with the Grand Rapids Police Department one day after the department released a video showing an officer shooting 26-year-old Patrick Lyoya.
Tudor Dixon released a statement on the video released, saying Lyoya refused to comply with the officer, and instead chose to physically and aggressively resist.
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“[Lyoya] tried to take control of the officer’s taser, which the officer ordered him to drop repeatedly for over a minute,” said Dixon. “A police officer in that situation has an unenviable, split-second, life-altering choice to make: take a life, or risk losing his own.”
In addition, Dixon extended her condolences to the Lyoya family. “I’m sorry for the Lyoya family and what they’re going through right now,” Dixon said. “I stand unequivocally with the police officer.”
Dixon also highlighted Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Garlin Gilchrist’s statement which she said sides with the suspect.
In a Thursday press release, Whitmer said, “We must come together and build a future where Black Michiganders are afforded equal rights, dignity, and safety in our communities. I will never stop fighting to make Michigan a more equitable and just state.”
Michigan’s primary is August 2. That election will narrow down the growing field of Republican candidates who will face off with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November.
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