Sonya Massey organizes vigil after black woman shot in the face by police

Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, had called 911 to report a possible intruder. She was standing in her Springfield, Illinois, home with two officers, holding a pot of boiling water when Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean P. Grayson shot her in the head on July 6.

An autopsy released on Friday showed she was killed by a bullet that entered under her left eye.

Grayson has been charged with murder and has pleaded not guilty.

The harrowing details of the killing have sparked national outrage. The chaotic and at times horrific bodycam video made public earlier this week has led to calls for police reform and a federal investigation.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said at Massey’s funeral that the video “would shock the conscience of America, just as the photographs of Emmett Till after he was lynched did.” The 1955 lynching of the 14-year-old boy in Mississippi helped revive the civil rights movement.

Crump added that the video would provoke similar reactions to those of Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times in the back by police in Chicago in 2014, and George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer during an arrest in 2020.

“It’s so senseless, so unnecessary, so unjust, so unconstitutional,” Crump said. “This video is tragic on every level.”

Bodycam footage shows fatal shooting of Sonya Massey

Police bodycam footage captured the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey near Springfield, Illinois.

Vigils planned across the country

Activists across the country have planned vigils on what they have declared a National Day of Mourning for Massey this coming Sunday. Rallies are planned in New York, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Washington, D.C., among other places.

Reverend Al Sharpton will join Massey’s family members at a rally in Chicago on Tuesday night, Crump said.

In Springfield, where Massey lived, a rally is planned at Comer Cox Park, 301 S. Martin Luther King Dr., for 1 p.m. Sunday.

According to local news reports, some communities have already begun organizing vigils for Massey. Community members gathered Friday in Kansas City; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Wilmington, North Carolina.

“The killing of unarmed civilians is a crime against humanity,” Sonya Patrick, chair of the Wilmington chapter of Black Lives Matter and the region’s Black Leadership Caucus, said at the vigil, according to the Port City Daily.

“We are tired of marching for a simple livelihood/security that should have been given to us since birth.”

Contributors: Steven Spearie, The Springfield State Journal- Register