Op-Ed: We Have To Keep Sonya Massey’s Name Alive
Last summer, on July 6, we learned of a new reason for the police to kill an unarmed Black person: a pot of hot water.
Sonya Massey, then 36, called 911 when she suspected an intruder at her home in Springfield, Illinois.
According to an Illinois State Police summary of her shooting death, when police arrived, deputies did indeed see a car at Massey’s home that looked broken into. After knocking on the door, the two officers claimed they found her “distraught and not thinking clearly.” But instead of treating her as a person in need of help, she was ultimately treated as a criminal, and after an exchange, subsequently executed.
Sangamon County Deputy Sean Grayson, reportedly roughly 10 feet from Massey, motioned to a pot on the stove in her kitchen. At one point, Grayson responds to Massey, “Getting away from your hot, steaming water.” In response, the summary says she repeats twice, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” Massey said twice.
Grayson greeted that with, “I swear to God. I will shoot you right in your f—— face.”
