Enough is enough.
That’s the message civil rights leaders the Rev. Al Sharpton and attorney Ben Crump conveyed during a rally Tuesday in West Garfield Park for Sonya Massey, an unarmed Black woman who was gunned down by a white sheriff’s deputy in her kitchen near Springfield.
Speaking at a news conference at New Mount Pilgrim Church ahead of the rally, Crump and Sharpton called on Congress to pass national police reform legislation in Massey’s name. They blamed the same lawmakers for their inaction in the wake of past killings of unarmed Black people at the hands of police for Massey’s shooting.
“It is the negligence of this government’s response to all of these killings that creates the climate that led to Sonya,” said Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network civil rights group. “Yes, we want to see the officer prosecuted, but we also want to see the laws change.”
Specifically, Sharpton wants Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which was last introduced in 2021 but has stalled for years. The bill would set up a national registry of police misconduct with an aim toward preventing officers from avoiding punishment by seeking jobs in other jurisdictions.
The Floyd bill was co-written by Vice President Kamala Harris when she was a senator.
Sharpton and Crump said that if that bill had passed when it was introduced Massey would still be alive because Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County deputy accused of shooting Massey, has a checkered disciplinary past.
Before joining law enforcement, Grayson had been arrested twice for driving under the influence and once for driving on a suspended license. Sangamon County was his sixth law enforcement employer in four years.
“A bad cop is a bad cop,” Sharpton said. “Why was he on the force?” He added that residents should be able to look up an individual law enforcement officer’s disciplinary history.
Crump and Sharpton urged lawmakers coming to Chicago for the Democratic convention to devote some time to the issue of police reform and adopt a platform plank in Massey’s name. Sharpton also called on the state to quickly enact a law similar to the Floyd bill and name it after Massey.
Crump, flanked by Massey’s mother, children, aunts, cousins and other family members, many of whom wore clothing with her image, echoed Massey’s last words as he called for change.
“Until we get full justice for Sonya Massey, we rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” Crump said.
Grayson is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct in the death of Massey, 36, on July 6. She had called police for help with a possible prowler.
Body-camera video shows Massey, inside her home, moving a pot of hot water from the stove and Grayson, who said he feared that she would throw it at him, firing three times, striking her once in the face. Authorities say Grayson, who is white, drew his gun despite having several nonlethal options. Grayson has pleaded not guilty.
An autopsy released Friday by Sangamon County officials determined that Massey was killed by a gunshot wound just under her left eye.
At the news conference, Massey’s cousin recounted entering the home and trying to clean up the crime scene after investigators left, using multiple towels to soak up the blood.
Massey’s son, Malachi Hill Massey, said that when law enforcement called him to say his mother had been shot, they didn’t tell him who had pulled the trigger. Family say police led them to believe that an intruder had shot her.
When her family arrived at her home “the morning after she was killed, and all the blood was still on the floor and they’re asking what happened, who did this, they did not get a straight answer,” Crump said. “They thought it was some prowler or somebody who shot Sonya Massey.”
Family said they found out the suspected shooter was a law enforcement officer from the news media.
Raymond Massey, Sonya’s uncle, described her as “a beautiful Black queen.”
“The only things she talked about were her accomplishments, her kids and God,” he said. “She should be here with us today.”
Malachi Hill Massey said his mother was the world to him. “She was everything to me,” he said, thanking the public for the outpouring of support the family has received.
Crump and Sharpton said they came to Chicago because the city’s Black community has also been victimized by police, naming Bettie Jones, Quintonio LeGrier and Laquan McDonald as recent examples.
After the news conference, hundreds of community members filled the pews for a rally to honor Massey’s memory. Faith leaders prayed for the family and for police reform. It featured emotional performances by the Leaders Network Justice Choir and Santita Jackson, a singer and daughter of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was in attendance.
“We have to talk about what happened to an innocent Black momma that should be alive tonight,” Sharpton, who was keynote speaker at the rally, told the crowd. “We will stand with this family because that family could be anyone in this room.”
Contributing: AP
