A white police officer Sean Grayson has been proven to open fire on 36-year-old Black woman, Sonya Massey, when the deceased called 911 to report a possible intruder in her home in the United States.
The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, in a new body cam released on Monday in Illinois shows officers shooting dead the unarmed Massey in her home.
Sheriff Jack Campbell of the Sangamon County Police in a statement, condemned Grayson of his “unjustifiable and reckless decision.”
President Joe Biden has reacted to Massey’s killing, saying she “should be alive today,” even police shootings of minorities in the United States have become painfully common and polarising events as this murder has attracted national attention.
Biden on Monday called Massey “a beloved mother, friend, daughter, and young Black woman.”
A prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, at a news conference Tuesday, described the shooting as “senseless,” adding that, “Equal justice is paramount,” as he said that Vice President Kamala Harris was set to speak with Massey’s family.
Crump told the news conference that state authorities had promised a “fair and transparent investigation,” as he disclosed that the family alleged police initially tried to downplay their responsibility.
The video footage from the body camera released Monday, shows Massey talking to two officers in her home, while they ask for ID and she searches through paperwork.
The sheriff’s deputies then ask her to check on a pot of boiling water on her stove, saying “We don’t need a fire while we’re here.”
When one of the deputies stepped back, Massey asks why, and he responds with a laugh: “Away from your hot steaming water.”
Holding the pot, Massey calmly responds “Oh, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus” which prompted a deputy to respond “You better fucking not. I swear to God I’ll fucking shoot you at your fucking face,” drawing his weapon.
Apologising, Massey bends behind a counter as officers scream “drop the fucking pot.” They then round the corner of the counter and opened fire.
Afterwards, one of the officers said they were afraid of “taking fucking boiling water to the fucking head.”
Grayson has been fired and charged with murder, with Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell issuing a statement to denounce his “unjustifiable and reckless decision.”
Police told the family who arrived on the scene that “we know she was having problems with her neighbour, as to suggest that the neighbour might have done it,” Crump said.
Shootings and brutality by the police in the US, especially instances of white-on-Black violence often attract outrage and protests even from ardent police supporters.
