GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Hundreds of protesters, activists and family members of Da'Quain Johnson filled Calder Plaza in downtown Grand Rapids on Saturday, calling for answers following the 32-year-old's death at the hands of a Grand Rapids police officer earlier this month.
Protesters started with a car parade from the southeast side neighborhood near where Johnson was shot by police on February 18.
The string of vehicles made their way to Calder Plaza in downtown Grand Rapids, where organizers and Johnson's mother spoke to the crowd.
(Disclaimer: The following video contains strong language that some viewers may find offensive.)
LIVE STREAM FROM THE RALLY AT CALDER PLAZA:
The demonstrators demanding the release of the names of the officers involved, the full, unedited body camera footage of the incident, and answers on why Johnson was pursued.
The protest began after 4:30 p.m. and wrapped up around 6:30 p.m.
WATCH: Family & protesters demand answers in shooting death of Da'Quain Johnson
Johnson was shot and killed during a struggle with Grand Rapids police officers on Feb. 18. Officers recovered a handgun at the scene, according to then-Chief Eric Winstrom.
FOX 17 obtained a copy of Johnson's death certificate, which states he was shot in the back and declares his death a homicide.
Johnson's mother, Angelica, was among those at the rally.
"They put my son's death certificate on social media before I got to see it," Angelica said.
Johnson's sister also spoke to the crowd about what the show of support meant to her family.
"You have no idea how much it means to see everyone standing here. I hate it has to be in these circumstances," she said. "This is exactly what we need — everybody to come together, to take a stand and let them know we are not afraid."
Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack was also among those gathered, voicing specific demands on behalf of residents.
"One of them would be the police officer's name. That way you don't have people playing a guessing game out there. I think the city owes that to the residents," Womack said.
Womack also called for the release of unedited body camera footage from the incident.
"This video was released. It was chopped up. There's so many answers. So it just motivated the public to bring their own video out. And now you have people on both sides of this issue looking at that, waiting for the truth," Womack said.
Grand Rapids resident Brianna Delgado said she came out because she has seen situations like this before.
"It's just messed up how they keep doing this and getting away with it. So it just really is frustrating. So yeah, I hope something changes," Delgado said.
Delgado said she is also looking for changes within the city's police department.
"Either different policies or different rules, or different training, or even, I don't know, something to prevent this, because it's ridiculous," she said. "It seems like it's getting worse. I feel like it's happening more frequently."
Emotions ran high throughout the protest, with Angelica addressing the crowd directly.
"We gonna get because we are tired of them killing our kids. We are tired of them killing our brothers. We are tired of them killing our sons. We are tired of them killing our daughters. We are tired," Angelica said.
The officers involved in the shooting remain on administrative leave as the Michigan State Police continues its investigation.
Johnson's family will host a Celebration of Life ceremony Wednesday afternoon at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in Grand Rapids.
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The deadly use of force sparked a number of complaints against the police department, including by some elected officials.
Grand Rapids
