Communities across the United States gathered Sunday to hold a national day of mourning and demand justice for Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black mother of two who was fatally shot by police earlier this month inside her Illinois home.
Event organizer and activist Tamika Mallory says more than 30 cities around the country are using the day to honor Massey and call for police reform at the federal level.
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“We wanted to make sure that Sonya Massey’s story becomes an international outcry for police accountability in the U.S.,” Mallory said. “There has to be more than words and prayers. We need to pass legislation quickly that will protect the next Black woman that an officer like him encounters.”
The case sparked nationwide outrage after police released the body camera footage last week showing Massey being shot inside her kitchen after she had called police on July 6 to report a possible prowler. Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson has since been fired and charged with first degree murder — to which he pleaded not guilty.
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Civil rights attorney Ben Crump — who is representing Massey’s family — says the shooting was not justified and is calling for Grayson to be held accountable.
“Sonya Massey needed a helping hand. But instead, she got a bullet to her face,” he said. “…The hope is that their family will get full justice. That is, they will get criminal culpability and they will get civil accountability.”
Crump says that the Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the shooting. If convicted, Grayson faces up to life in prison.
