▲ Malachi Hill, 17, and Jneanette Summer, 15, children of Sonya Massey, murdered by a Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy in Illinois, yesterday at a press conference. They are accompanied by attorney Ben Crump (left).Photo Ap
AFP and AP
The newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday, July 24, 2024, p. 27
Washington. Images released by Illinois state police show officers shooting and killing unarmed African-American Sonya Massey in her home after she called for help from a possible intruder.
Massey, 36, called 911 to report a man lurking around. Two deputies showed up just after midnight on July 6 at his home in Springfield, about 200 miles southwest of Chicago, the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office said.
US President Joe Biden said Massey should be alive todayif it weren’t for that police shooting.
Officer Sean Grayson, who is white, was charged with murder.
Body camera footage released the day before yesterday shows Massey speaking to two officers at her home as they ask her for identification and she searches through paperwork.
Officers tell him to be careful with a pot of boiling water. We don’t need a fire while we’re here.
When one of them steps back, Massey asks why, and the officer replies with a laugh: away from your hot water and steam.
Holding the pot, Massey calmly replies: I rebuke you in the name of Jesuswhich prompts a sheriff’s deputy to reply: You better not. I swear to God I’ll shoot your fucking face off.and draws his weapon.
Massey apologizes and crouches as officers shout let go of the fucking pot. Massey is then shot.
Afterwards, one of the agents declared that he was afraid of being burned. in the fucking head.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Massey’s family, called it one of the worst videos of a police shooting ever seen. Equal justice is paramounthe said at a press conference yesterday.
Vice President Kamala Harris will speak with Massey’s family, the lawyer added.
Massey’s father, James Wilburn, called for the resignation of Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell.
I want to tell you that the police chief is a disgrace.Wilburn said. This man (Grayson) should never have carried a badge or a gun.
Police shootings and brutality often spark outrage and protests in the United States, a country with a long history of racial discrimination.
Officer Sean Grayson pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a firearm and misconduct in connection with the killing. He was fired last week by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department.
Grayson is being held without bail in the county jail. If convicted, he faces up to 45 years in prison for murder, six to 30 years for assault and two to five years for misdemeanor.
The video can be viewed at: @lajornadaonline https://rb.gy/clk8ws