Photo: Douglas Sacha / Moment / Getty Images
A Michigan resident is going viral after using a Grand Rapids city commission meeting to call out what he says is racial and class bias in policing, pointing to his own experience as proof.
During public comment at a February 24, 2026, meeting, the man identified in city records as Lucas Jr. told commissioners he intentionally drove around without valid license tabs to see if he would be stopped.
“These are mine from a year ago, when I decided to start an experiment to see how long I, as a white dude, could drive around without them and not get pulled over,” he said. “Last year, working all the way across town five days a week, driving through 4 or 5 different police jurisdictions. I was never stopped or questioned once.”
“But please do keep telling us that there’s no racial or class bias in policing.”
His comments came just days after the fatal police shooting of Da’Quain Johnson, a 32-year-old Black man, which has sparked protests and renewed scrutiny of policing in the city.
According to WWMT, Johnson was stopped by Grand Rapids police on Feb. 18 while riding a bicycle after officers said they believed he was armed. Body camera footage shows officers chasing Johnson, deploying a K-9, and shooting him after the dog brought him to the ground. He died the following day.
Police say Johnson had a loaded gun and posed a threat. But attorneys for his family, including civil rights attorney Ben Crump, have challenged that account, arguing the footage released so far does not clearly show Johnson pointing a weapon and questioning whether the use of deadly force was justified.
At the commission meeting, the resident directly connected his experience to the incident.
“As a white guy from the South, I gotta say that when I see a Black man running away having dogs sicced on them, it’s reminiscent of the plantations of the old South,” he said, according to the city’s official transcript.
The shooting has also sparked debate over the use of police dogs. Grand Rapids Mayor David LaGrand said the footage raised serious concerns, telling reporters, “If my dog did what I saw in that video, I’d put my dog down,” while calling for a review of K-9 policies, according to WZZM 13.
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