Patrick Lyoya fled Congo to escape war. A traffic stop in Michigan cost him his life
Video of Lyoya's death has reignited protests over racial injustice. For those who knew him, he's remembered as a son, brother and father — a person of faith whose life was inextricably shaped by war.
It was about five years ago that Patrick Lyoya first stepped into Restoration Community Church, a small United Methodist congregation just outside Grand Rapids, Mich. He was a new face, but he had a familiar story.
Like most of the congregation, Lyoya belonged to a sprawling African diaspora in Grand Rapids who came to the United States seeking safety and a better life. In Lyoya's case, his family arrived as refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2014. They had escaped war and fear of persecution, and after more than a decade in a refugee camp, they seemed to have finally found a haven in Michigan.
America meant opportunity for the family, so when Banza Mukalay, the pastor at Restoration Community Church and
