Michigan cops shot and killed a Black man named Da’Quain Johnson last week while he was being mauled by a police dog, claiming they were in fear for their lives because he pointed a gun at them.
But the videos that have surfaced do not show Johnson pulling out a gun while he was being mauled. And witnesses say he already had his hands behind his back when he was shot.
Now Johnson’s family has retained nationally renowned attorney Lee Merritt to fight for justice in the 32-year-old man’s death.
“It is 2026, and Black men are still being met with dogs and bullets instead of protection, still dying in encounters that are supposed to be about ‘public safety,’” Merritt said on a Facebook post last week.
Johnson’s heartbroken mother, Angelica Johnson, compared to the shooting to the execution of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black boy who was lynched by a mob of white men in 1955 after he was accused by a white woman of whistling at her.
“They Emmett Tilled my son,” she said in a video that was posted to Instagram. “They shot him in the back of the head … while they were holding both his hands.”
“They executed my baby. They held his hands behind his back.”
But Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom told local media that Johnson was shot in the chest, not in the back of the head, accusing Merritt and Johnson’s mother of lying.
“There’s a lot of inconsistencies or outright falsehoods being spread,” he said, which is why he said he is releasing video of the shooting.
But the bodycam and dashcam footage that have been released, along with the footage recorded by a witness, do not clearly show Johnson pointing a gun at the officers because it is dark and his hands are not visible.
One cop can be heard saying, “Stop reaching, man, you’re going to get shot!” while Johnson is facedown on the ground with the dog mauling him.
“Drop the gun!” a cop yells before opening fire.
Watch the video below, which includes footage from witnesses, police, and his mother.
‘I Hope Y’all Go to Jail’
The shooting took place at around 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 18 after Grand Rapids police in patrol cars began pursuing Johnson, who was on a bicycle.
Police said they initially tried to detain Johnson because they suspected he was carrying a gun, but then he tried to flee on his bicycle.
The footage released by police does not include the initial encounter, but it shows a cop chasing Johnson into the parking lot of an apartment complex where he lived.
At one point, Johnson ditched his bicycle and tried to run away on foot, but he slipped on the ice and fell down, which was when the police dog ran up to him and began attacking him.
Seconds later, he was shot several times, with at least one cop claiming he saw a gun, but the gun is not visible in the video, and witnesses recording the shooting never mentioned a gun.
“As he is on the ground and he’s being attacked by the dog, the police officer told him, ‘stop moving, stop moving, you’re going to get shot,’” a witness recording from an upstairs apartment said.
“Next thing you know, they shot the man. Multiple times.”
Another woman who was with the witness said Johnson was lying on his stomach, being attacked by the dog, and with two cops pointing their guns at him.
“I hope y’all go to jail,” she said, referring to the cops who shot him.
The shooting is reminiscent of the 2022 Grand Rapids police shooting of Patrick Lyoya, the 26-year-old Black man shot and killed after being pulled over for having improper vehicle registration.
Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr shot Lyoya in the back of the head while straddling his back.
Schurr was charged with second-degree murder, but the judge declared a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a verdict. Prosecutors then announced they would not refile the charges against him.
Lyoya’s family has a pending lawsuit against Schurr, but he is claiming qualified immunity, claiming it was “objectively reasonable” to kill the Black man.
‘The Evidence is There’
While Chief Windstorm is trying to accuse the witnesses of lying, the community is accusing the cops of lying.
“The Grand Rapids Police Department has told you a lie,” community consultant Richard Griffin told a room of citizens who had gathered to watch the video and march in protest on Feb. 19, according to Michigan Live.
“They’ve miscommunicated something to you. They’ve mischaracterized something to you yet again.”
Chief Windstorm told local media that a gun was found on Johnson and that he was also on parole for weapons violations.
Local media interviewed a “use-of-force expert” — who happens to be a retired cop — who said the law allows police to shoot suspects even if they are not pointing a weapon at them as long as the cop “reasonably believed his life or the life of someone else was in danger.”
But history shows that what the courts consider “reasonable” is viewed through the eyes of police who are trained to believe everybody and anybody is a possible enemy combatant. Especially if they are Black.
“Da’Quain Johnson was a son, a neighbor, and a member of his community, not a threat to be torn apart and gunned down where he lived,” attorney Merritt said on his Facebook page. Merritt needs to file a notice of claim before filing an actual lawsuit.
“His family deserves full transparency, full accountability, and justice for Da’Quain Johnson,” the attorney added.
Johnson’s mother, Angelica, has vowed to continue fighting for justice for her son.
“The evidence is there,” she said in a news conference on Friday.
“Y’all couldn’t see it, but you will soon enough,” she said. “But my son was shot in the back of the head. He was mauled in the neck by a dog. And the way he was shot … you could tell that his hands were being held behind his back.”
