Malik Miah
Posted July 31, 2024
POLICE ONCE AGAIN show their true colors: shooting in the face and killing a 36-year-old Black mother, Sonya Massey, in her own home in Springfield, Illinois.
She called 911 for fear of an intruder, and became the victim. She leaves two teenage children.
It happened on July 6, but the reason and savage nature of the killing was not revealed immediately. Typically, an internal police review occurs first, and the police officer is put on paid leave. Not this time.
A police videocam (released to the family 11 days later) from the other deputy on the scene showed when the two cops entered Massey’s home. Sean Grayson, with a long record of abuse, fired shots that hit Massey in the face.
The police union, as expected, filed a grievance protesting Grayson’s termination and demanding his reinstatement. However, by the end of the month and under community pressure, the union announced it would no longer challenge the charges.
The Timeline
News media from USA Today, CNN, The New York Times and Illinois newspapers including The State Journal-Register, gave a clear timeline of what happened hour-by-hour on July 6 and afterwards:
Around 12:50 a.m., two Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputies, including Sean Grayson, were called to a home in the 2800 block of Hoover Avenue in an unincorporated part of Woodside Township for a possible intruder.
No intruder was found. Court documents filed by prosecutors said Massey appeared to be “calm, possibly unwell, and non-aggressive.”
The footage shows Grayson and another deputy speaking with Massey in her home – at which point she went to the stove to turn off a pot of boiling water after Grayson directed her to do so. She then picked up the pot and the other deputy stepped back, “away from your hot steaming water,” he said.
“I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” Massey responded.
“Huh?” the deputy replied.
“I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” she repeated.
“You better f**king not or I swear to God I’ll f**king shoot you in the f**king face,” Grayson said.
He then drew his firearm and pointed it at her; she ducked and said, “I’m sorry” while lifting the pot, the video shows.
“Drop the f**king pot!” both deputies yelled.
Three shots are heard. After a few seconds of silence, one deputy said, “shots fired” and called for emergency medical services. The implication was that Massey shot first, even though she had no gun.
Massey was taken to the hospital where she died. The case was referred to the Illinois State Police Sheriff’s Department.
On July 8 an autopsy revealed that Massey had died from a gunshot wound to the face.
Indictment and Protests
On July 11, national civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump announced that he has been retained by the Massey family. They called for a probe into the hiring of sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson. He had worked at six different law enforcement agencies in four years and had been charged with driving under the influence twice.
On July 12, a two-hour protest was held at the Sangamon County Building, demanding the release of body camera footage and transparency in the case. More protests reoccurred on July 15-16.
On July 17, Massey family members reviewed the body camera footage (summarized above). They mentioned that Sonja had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
A Sangamon County grand jury then indicted Grayson on five counts, including three of first-degree murder. He surrendered to the police and was later terminated by his department.
As a protest rally drew about 200 supporters at the Springfield NAACP Building, authorities announced that the body camera footage would be released to the public on July 22.
Meanwhile, on July 18 Grayson made his first appearance in Sangamon County court, pleading not guilty to all five counts. The judge denied Grayson’s petition to be released.
Funeral and Bodycam Release
On July 19 Massey’s funeral was held at Ruby Funeral Services & Chapel. Eulogizing Massey, Crump said the bodycam footage would “shock the conscience of America,” similar to images of Emmett Till, a teenager whose lynching in 1955 galvanized the Civil Rights Movement.
Nearly two weeks after Sonya Massey was murdered, Sangamon County released the body cam footage to the public as protesters marched in Massey’s memory. At a press conference at Springfield’s NAACP Building, Ben Crump announced that the U.S. Department of Justice has also opened an investigation into the Sonya Massey case.
The following day Illinois Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker and Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton met with members of the Massey family at the Union Baptist Church in Springfield.
The fact that the state police and county moved relatively quickly to fire and prosecute Grayson shows the impact of the Black Lives Matters movement. Such a relatively fast-moving response to a police officer killing a Black person is rare. It took the horror of a video to reveal the criminal police actions.
Family Demands Full Justice
Sonya Massey is among the growing number of Black women killed by police in their own homes. Recall Breonna Taylor’s murder in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2020.
At the July 22 news conference, Ben Crump connected Massey’s death to other cases of police violence against Black people across the United States. He described her killing “senseless on every level,” remarking that “Black women don’t get the consideration and the respect in America.”
Massey’s father, James Wilburn, said during a news conference he initially received conflicting information from law enforcement. “I was under the impression that a prowler had broken in and killed my baby. Never did they say that it was a deputy-involved shooting until my brother read it on the internet.”
“Crime against Humanity”
On July 28th National Day of Mourning rallies occurred in New York, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Washington DC, among other places. Other communities have begun hosting vigils for Massey, including in Kansas City, Missouri; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Wilmington, North Carolina.
“Murdering unarmed citizens is a crime against humanity,” said Sonya Patrick, the chair of Wilmington’s Black Lives Matter chapter and the region’s Black Leadership Caucus, at that city’s vigil, as reported the Port City Daily.
Massey’s family, including her children, Malachi Hill Massey, 17 and Jeanette Summer Massey, 15, have worked with activists to host a series of rallies, marches and public meetings.
On July 29 the U.S. Department of Justice held a “listening session” in Springfield’s Union Baptist Church. Nine city and county officials, including Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell, made two-minute opening statements. Then the crowd of 500, many wearing purple in honor of Massey, responded. While Campbell asked for forgiveness from the family and community, speakers continued to call for his resignation.
The following night the family was in Chicago for “Remembering Sonya Massey.” Spearheaded by Rev. Marshall Hatchat, the mass meeting was held New Mount Pilgrim Church in the West Garfield Park neighborhood. The Black clergy turned out hundreds with speakers including Ben Crump and Rev. Al Sharpton from the National Action Network.
Kamala Harris, vice president and presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee, also spoke with Massey’s family. She released a statement, remarking
“After she called the police for help, she was tragically killed in her own home at the hands of a responding officer sworn to protect and serve. Doug [her husband] and I send strength and prayers to Sonya’s family and friends, and we join them in grieving her senseless death.”
Massey’s father, James Wilburn, told NBC News that Harris “let us know that she is with us 100%, that this senseless killing must stop.”
Abolish and Replace!
Tahir Duckett, a civil rights lawyer and activist and executive director of Georgetown Law’s Center for Innovations in Community Safety, noted in a July 24 essay for The New York Times the broader context of the killing and police “reforms.”
“The death of George Floyd in 2020 drew public outrage and calls for a wide variety of police reforms. There is still a lot we don’t know about the Massey situation, including if she was experiencing mental distress. But the killing of Ms. Massey is a cold reminder of how little has changed in the years since.”
“It’s true,” Duckett continued, “that there have been piecemeal reforms at the state and local level. But at the federal level, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act was unable to get past partisan gridlock in the Senate — and, in any case, many experts agree that the act would not do enough to reduce rates of police violence in the United States.”
Justice for victims of police violence and killings will require much more than reforms. Policing as it exists must be abolished and replaced.
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