Members and Friends,
Following last week’s killing of Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year old Black immigrant, by a Grand Rapids police officer, GEO stands with our communities in demanding justice for Lyoya and an end to state-sanctioned murders of Black people everywhere. GEO supports those fighting for Black lives, in Michigan and in Washtenaw County, as with the 2014 murder of Aura Rosser by Ann Arbor Police Department (AAPD) Officer David Ried.
While state violence against Black people is foundational to the United States, Lyoya’s death reflects a specific history and ongoing pattern of racism in our state. Police in Michigan are more likely to stop Black drivers, and the list of Black Michiganders killed following a traffic stop includes Malice Green in Detroit in 1992, and Clifton (Pete) Lee Jr. in Ypsilanti in 2006. Given the lethal consequences of police escalation, GEO supported the Coalition for Re-envisioning Our Safety’s plan for an unarmed, non-police, and community-administered response unit, which was recently passed by Ann Arbor City Council.
In Michigan, the struggle against police violence is inseparable from the pursuit of economic justice. According to Grand Rapids police, Lyoya was pulled over because the license plate on his car did not match the vehicle he was driving. Police regularly make pretextual traffic stops–for such infractions as a broken tail-light or damaged license plate–as part of a pattern of predatory, profit-driven policing. Traffic-related fines and fees generate millions of dollars in revenue in Michigan, as a 2020 report by the Detroit Justice Center found.
In the wake of this tragedy, GEO also stands with our immigrant neighbors, family, friends, and members. The death of Lyoya, who emigrated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is yet another reminder of the violence experienced by racialized immigrants and refugees in Michigan. As a labor union, we reject the demonization of immigrants that serves to divide workers and legitimize racist immigration and labor policies. Those who wish to support Congolese refugees in Grand Rapids in this moment can contact GEO member Irene Routté, who has worked with this community over the past three years. She is assisting the Congolese refugee youth council in leading a community meeting on public safety on May 9th. For additional information and/or to help offer support, please reach out to her at routte@umich.edu.
Finally, GEO continues to call on the University of Michigan to align its approach to public safety with its stated commitment to anti-racism. In 2015, the University of Michigan hired John Seto, the AAPD Chief at the time of Rosser’s murder, as its Director of Housing Security, where he remains to this day. The University continues to prioritize the Division of Public Safety and Security rather than fully fund services for mental health, sexual assault prevention, and other essential supports. GEO believes that a just and safe U-M is one that invests in workers, students, and communities, not policing and criminalization.
In Solidarity,
GEO
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