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| Sonya Massey |
They have pushed back against their uniformed overseers who now ride in cars armed with guns, no longer on horseback brandishing whips.
In one recent attack in Springfield, Illinois, a white cop shot dead a black woman after threatening to discharge his firearm in her face. He then told his partner not to give first aid to the dying victim.
Sonya Massey had made a 911 call because she suspected there was a prowler near her residence. What responded to her call was worse than any prowler.
Sonya Massey was holding a pot of boiling water which Sean Grayson, a former member of the US military, ordered her to put on the table because he wanted "away from your hot, steaming water." The police bodycam leaves little room for doubt that Grayson asked his victim to remove the pot of water from the hob and by doing so was creating the pretext for murdering her.
Sonya Massey, a black Christian, told the police before being killed that “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus” Her killer responded “I swear to God. I will shoot you right in your fucking face.” Sonya Massey put the pot of water on the table as instructed and said 'I'm sorry'' before crouching in terror behind a cabinet, unarmed and posing absolutely no threat to the armed cop. Those were her last words before being killed by Grayson.
According to First Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Rodgers, despite being advised by Grayson to ignore the injuries of Sonya Massey, “the other deputy still rendered aid and stayed with Ms. Massey until medical help arrived. ” She added that Grayson “at no time attempted to render aid to Ms. Massey.”
The Governor of Illinois JB Pritzker vented his outrage at the attack:
I am enraged that another innocent Black woman had her life taken from her at the hands of a police officer.
Presidential contender Kamala Harris called on Congress:
to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act … In this moment, in honor of Sonya’s memory and the memory of so many more whose names we may never know.
A prominent civil rights lawyer representing the family of Sonya Massey, Benjamin Crump stated:
This is the worst police shooting video that I’ve seen. It is so senseless. The video is disturbing, but the audio is equally disturbing. When you look at that video and you see him [Dep. Sean Grayson] move around the counter, even though he’s trying to allege the reason he shot her was because he feared that she was going to throw hot water in his face from the pot — the very pot that he sent her to get — and then he moves around the counter…from an objective observation, looks like to get a better shot. When his partner says, ‘I’m going to go get my CPR kit,’ he says, ‘No, it’s a headshot. Don’t worry about that. It’s not going to make a difference. She’s gone.’ And then, at one point in the video, he says, ‘Just let her f—ing’ — and he doesn’t finish his statement, but a logical person can conclude he said, ‘Just let her die.’ It’s troubling on every level. She needed a helping hand…She did not need a bullet to the face.
The mother and family of Sonya Massey have asked for people to say her name.
Sonya Massey-Sonya Massey-Sonya Massey . . . a black woman murdered by a white cop.
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