WILMINGTON — Harrowing body cam footage was released this week showing the murder of a Black woman by an officer in Illinois, which has captured national attention and resonated within the local community.
On Friday night in downtown Wilmington, a group of local activists, citizens, and community leaders gathered for a vigil to honor the memory of the victim, Sonya Massey.
“How many times have we had to say, ‘say her name’ or ‘say his name’ – another hashtag? Another statistic?” local activist Rebecca Trammel said at the vigil. “These are people, and somehow, our government has not realized that we, the people, are tired of this, and we will not have anymore. Impunity is the accomplice of injustice.”
Hosted by the Wilmington chapter of Black Lives Matter and the National Black Leadership Caucus of the Southeastern Region, people at the vigil stood in solidarity with Massey’s family. To commemorate Massey’s life, the vigil featured spoken word, speeches, moments of silence, and prayers.
Massey, a 36-year-old mother of two, was fatally shot in her home on July 6 by Sean Grayson, a former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy. Grayson, accompanied by another deputy, were responding to a 911 call from Massey, who reported fearing an intruder outside her house.
“Murdering unarmed citizens is a crime against humanity,” according to Sonya Patrick, the chairman of BLM and the region’s Black Leadership Caucus. “We are sick and tired of marching for simple livelihood/safety that should have been given to us since birth.”
Patrick said watching the footage was emotional and questioned: “How did this turn into a murder?”
The officer’s body-worn camera footage was released to the public Monday. The 36-minute video shows the quick escalation that led to Massey’s death. It began with Deputy Grayson and another officer showing up at Massey’s house, responding to the call about a potential intruder. The deputies addressed the intruder matter before asking Massey for her ID and continuing a conversation with Massey inside her house.
As seen in the footage, while talking in Massey’s living room, the deputies noticed a pot on the lit stove. One remarked: “We don’t need a fire while we’re here,” and at the deputy’s request, Massey turned off the stove, but the tone shifted as she followed their directions.
When she took the boiling water off the stove, she asked the deputies where they were going, as they began to move away from her after she grabbed the pot. “Away from your hot, steaming water,” one of the deputies chuckled.
Massey responded: “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Patrick said the phrase is common in the religious Black community.
“In our culture, you know, we say things like, ‘the devil is a lie,’ or ‘rebuke you in the name of Jesus’ when you say things we don’t agree with,” she explained. “That’s in a Christian Black culture. A lot of people wouldn’t know that if you weren’t in that community.”
Massey’s words prompted Grayson to draw his 9mm pistol and threaten to shoot her if she did something with the boiling water — implying she was going to throw it at him.
“You better f*****g not or I swear to God I’ll f*****g shoot you in your f*****g face,” he yelled, according to the footage. Massey was apologizing and ducking when Grayson fired three times, hitting her once in the head.
Grayson has been charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct and could potentially be facing a prison sentence of 45 years to life for murder, six to 30 years for aggravated battery, and two to five years for official misconduct. He is being held without bond at the Sangamon County jail.
The incident has since garnered mass attention, including that of President Joe Biden. He stated on July 23 the Massey family deserves justice.
“Sonya’s death at the hands of a responding officer reminds us that Black Americans often face fears for their safety that many others do not,” Biden said.
Vice president and democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris also released a statement;
“Our thoughts are also with the communities across our nation whose calls for help are often met with suspicion, distrust, and even violence. The disturbing footage released yesterday confirms what we know from the lived experiences of so many — we have much work to do to ensure that our justice system fully lives up to its name.”
Benjamin Crump, the civil rights attorney representing Massey’s family, announced the Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the case.
“While nothing can undo the heinous actions of this officer,” he said in a release, “we hope the scales of justice will continue to hold him accountable and we will demand transparency at every step.”
At the vigil, speakers strongly emphasized the need for transparency, calling for police and policy reforms to enhance accountability and training. Each speaker also underscored the importance of community cohesion, highlighting that meaningful change occurs when the community unites in large numbers.
Some speakers emphasized the need for people to urge lawmakers to pass the George Floyd Act. Introduced in 2021, after the murder of George Floyd by former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin. Chauvin was sentenced to 21 years for the second-degree murder. This legislation aims to reform policing practices and enhance law enforcement accountability.
The act lowers the criminal intent standard for prosecuting officer misconduct. It also establishes measures to combat racial profiling and restricts the use of excessive force, including no-knock warrants and chokeholds. Additionally, the bill creates a National Police Misconduct Registry and mandates new reporting requirements, as well as uniform accreditation standards and training for law enforcement officers on racial profiling, implicit bias, and intervening in cases of excessive force.
“I could have been Sonya Massey,” Trammel said. “But if we band together, if we do what we need to do, and we hold our lawmakers accountable for not holding police officers accountable, then we won’t be standing here again.”
Peter Rawitsch, of nonprofit Love Our Children NC, asked community members to come to the New Hanover County School Board’s monthly Tuesday meetings. He urged the crowd to speak out against exclusionary discipline practices, as they are more prominently given to Black students in the county.
Love Our Children NC strives to educate the public and school districts about effective educational practices and programs while advocating for policy change within the school system.
“It will not surprise you to know that most of the children that are kicked out of the public schools in New Hanover County are Black children,” Rawitsch said. “And it continues, nothing has changed.”
In 2018 the district was placed under a federal sanction for discriminatory discipline practices, with Assistant Superintendent Julie Varnam reporting in May of last year that Black students were suspended six times more often than their white peers.
“Folks like me, we can’t sit on the sidelines anymore, or we will just keep getting the same results over and over again,” Jerry Jones, NHCS board candidate, said.
If elected, he would be the only Black person on the school board.
“Unless we jump in there and change the makeup of the system, it is always going to do what it is going to do.”
Jones noted as his two sons grew older and began driving, he had to have “the talk” with them about how to stay safe as Black men when interacting with police, such as during traffic stops. He said all parents have to have those conversations with their Black kids.
“It’s sparse, right, because it doesn’t even matter,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how much money you have or how much education you have or the importance of your job, you’re just out there like a live wire”
In an interview with CBS News, Massey’s father expressed gratitude for the release of the body cam footage, as the family initially believed she had been killed by an alleged intruder or by a self-inflicted wound.
Sangamon County Attorney John Milhiser stated in a July 17 release that Grayson failed to turn on his body cam until after he had fired shots at Massey. The footage that was released was recorded by the other deputy who was accompanying Grayson.
Patrick also praised the release of the footage because it gave a clear depiction of responsibility for Massey’s murder. She connected the issue to the North Carolina state statute that prevents body cam footage from being public record in North Carolina, except when mandated by a court order.
It was put into law by former Gov. Pat McCrory in 2016. According to the North Carolina General Assembly, the law aims to balance transparency between law enforcement and the public, while keeping these recordings confidential. It leaves the release of footage in the hands of the police department. However, the recorded individual can file a claim in court to obtain the footage. Law enforcement could only release videos of public interest to the general public if ordered by a court.
“I don’t even know what the former governor and the House of Representatives were thinking when they passed such an insane law,” Patrick said. “I guess they tried to protect the law enforcement when they commit murder.”
However, Patrick argued the law has the opposite effect. She thinks it’s unconstitutional and emphasized law enforcement is a public service funded by taxpayer dollars.
“It blocks transparency and it allows officers to do illegal coverups,” she said.
She further emphasized any officer who shoots an unarmed person in the line of duty should be convicted, arguing that it should be exceedingly rare for an officer to use their firearm against an unarmed person. She compelled to improve training to help prevent such incidents.
“We need officers to have regular psychiatric evaluations, either monthly or quarterly. They all need that. They all need courses in cultural competency and implicit bias training,” she said.
According to the WPD’s directive on use of force, officers “will use the minimum amount of force that is reasonably necessary to achieve the desired legal objective and apply de-escalation techniques when possible.” It also states that officers will receive instruction on all departmental use of force policies, training on the proper use, care, and maintenance of weapons, and must demonstrate the legal use and proficiency with the weapon. The Training Division will document the receipt of policies and the delivery of the curriculum.
In 2022, the WPD took place in Gracie Style Techniques, a form of jiu-jitsu, training, to combat criminals without the use of excessive or fatal force.
The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department said in a July 17 statement on its social media “it is clear” Grayson’s actions in the footage failed to follow training and adhere to the department’s standards.
“We stand in solidarity because everybody’s impacted by that video,” Patrick said — adding every race, gender, people from different backgrounds, and even law enforcement, should be impacted by watching the video. “Because there is only one race, the human race.”
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