Family of Sonya Massey is in Chicago for a rally after “rough” listening session in Springfield

Sonya Massey’s family members will be in Chicago Tuesday evening for a rally on the city’s West Side hosted by Black clergy leaders.

The rally is called “Remembering Sonya Massey.” The 36-year-old unarmed Black woman was fatally shot by white Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson after she called law enforcement to her Springfield home.

Massey’s family will be joined by their attorney, Ben Crump, as well as civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton at the New Mount Pilgrim Church in the West Garfield Park neighborhood. Rev. Marshall Hatch, New Mt. Pilgrim’s lead pastor and organizer of the event, said he hopes to have around 700 people in attendance.

“There’s a lot of people who’ve been touched by this story all over the world, and certainly here in Chicago,” Hatch. “The videotaped murder…has made it so real for so many people.”

Charles Rex Aborgast

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AP

The event is the latest in a series of rallies, marches and public gatherings hosted by Massey’s family and activists since the shooting earlier this month. While many have expressed gratitude for Sangamon County prosecutors’ swiftness in bringing murder charges against former deputy Grayson, community members are now pushing for Grayson’s former boss, Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell, to step down.

Campbell heard those calls in person at a listening session Monday night in Springfield, hosted by the US Department of Justice. About 500 people – many wearing purple in honor of Massey – packed the gym of the Union Baptist Church, just a couple blocks away from where Massey’s funeral was held. Campbell was among the nine city and county officials sitting on the panel.

Each panelist was given two minutes to deliver opening remarks. When Campbell said he was asking Massey’s family and the community for their forgiveness – some in the audience scoffed.

“She called for help and we failed her,” Campbell said.

When it was their turn to speak, many residents, including Breonna Roberts, told officials that Black people in Springfield are scared.

“While I’m having to stand here as a 25-year-old who should be worried about putting my life together, figuring out what I want to do, I have to fight for the community of my people,” Roberts said. “I have to fight for my right to live, because we are hiring officers who shouldn’t even be given the right to wear that badge.”

Several people said they felt immense sadness after hearing about what happened. One man in his 70s said the incident was the first time he felt ashamed to be from Springfield, and that it was the first time he had cried in about 15 years.

Many people said they blamed Campbell for hiring Grayson in the first place. The Sangamon County Sheriff’s office was Grayson’s sixth law enforcement post in just four years, and he had previously been arrested twice for driving under the influence and discharged early from the Army.

“I’m going to speak to you, Mr. Campbell,” resident Zach Long said. “You’re sitting up here with no remorse in your face. Ain’t got one tear busting out your face. Vote him out!”

People’s frustration only grew as the night went on. About halfway through the session, the moderators limited people’s speaking time to one minute. The session quickly devolved into a screaming match between attendees and moderators.

“You ask us for the solutions, and you write them down – piece of paper that you ain’t gone never read. Stop playing in these people’s damn faces,” said one resident.

A moderator from the Justice Department responded, “I hear you, ma’am.”

Then, with people still waiting in line to speak, pastor T. Ray McJunkins, who was helping moderate the discussion, closed the session out in prayer, about 20 minutes early.

The local Black Lives Matter chapter is hosting their own community listening session Wednesday night, with behavioral health specialists and a focus on racialized trauma.

In a Facebook post announcing Wednesday’s event, Black Lives Matter Springfield said the listening session “was rough!”

At the request of the family, the US Department of Justice is looking into the circumstances surrounding Massey’s death. Grayson is currently in jail custody awaiting a trial date, which will be set on August 26.

Mawa Iqbal covers Illinois state government and politics for WBEZ. Follow her @mawa_iqbal)