GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids Mayor David LaGrand held a regularly scheduled community conversation Monday night focused specifically on policing, but made clear he could not discuss the deadly officer-involved shooting of Da-Quain Johnson, even as most attendees pressed him for answers.
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"What's on me and what's on all of us is building a better community tomorrow, where that doesn't happen again," LaGrand said.
While declining to discuss specifics of Johnson's death, LaGrand addressed cultural and policy topics relevant to the case, including gun ownership, police pursuit policies and the use of police K-9s.
On gun ownership, LaGrand said: "I think as a community we need to start having some shaming around gun possession. I think if you've got a gun you should be ashamed of yourself."
On the use of police dogs, LaGrand said: "It is time that we ask, what are dogs good for. Like if you need a dog to find someone in the woods, go get a hound dog. If you need to chase somebody in back yard why couldn't you do that with a drone. If my dog did what I saw in that video, I'd put my dog down."
LaGrand acknowledged that democracy is a slow process but challenged the community to continue participating, making their voices heard and pushing for change. Attendees, however, said they've already been doing that.
"We've showed up in droves and in numbers, and we've petitioned our legislators and petitioned our commissioners and even the governor, and we've done everything they've asked us to do, and yet, there's another slain in our city at the hands of police. And so I'm just looking for an answer as to what will it take?" said Julia, a Grand Rapids neighbor.
Julia said she was skeptical of the mayor's commitment to action and asked what he would be willing to risk politically, to make sure that a tragedy like that doesn't happen again. Here was his answer:
"We both were in the room when he deflected from the question and he gave no real, tangible answer," she said.
The mayor did not stay after the meeting to take additional questions. The next Mayor Monday event will focus on a different topic.
Once the Michigan State Police's investigation of the shooting is complete, a report will be sent over to the Kent County Prosecutor's Office for possible charges.
The officer who fired his gun is on paid administrative leave.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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