July 28, 2024

The world is appalled at the bodycam footage released on July 22 of the police killing of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman from Springfield, Illinois. She was murdered by Sangamon County sheriffs on July 6 after she called them for assistance for a possible prowler lurking outside her home.

This was nothing less than a cold-blooded execution by police — which can only be described as despicable and gruesome. Her last words were “I’m sorry” as she put her hands in the air and police fired at her within a split second, shooting her directly in the head from a mere feet away.

The bodycam footage of one of the officers shows that the police were disrespectful and confrontational from the moment they knocked on her door. Massey, who was in distress, answered the door, and the first words out of her mouth were, “Don’t hurt me.”

She was not taken seriously and was mocked by police. At one point, one of the police even instructed the 911 operator she was on the phone with to hang up on her.

Any use of force by police, especially deadly force, was entirely unprovoked. During her conversation with police, Massey got up to move a pot of boiling water off of the stove. Sean Grayson, the white racist cop who killed her, falsely claimed that she “came at him with boiling water”.

This was a blatant lie, as the bodycam shows her place the boiling water on the counter as instructed, and she was shot a split second later. Police continued to yell “drop the pot” after she had already done so.

Grayson, who killed her, also did not turn his bodycam on until after the killing occurred, so the only footage available is the angle from the other cop that was present. The two cops then stood around while she lay bleeding on the floor, refusing to render medical aid.

The police can be heard on the footage saying, “I’m not even gonna waste my medical stuff on her.” Not one bit of remorse or concern for her was shown by any member of the sheriff’s department in the half hour that followed the killing.

Grayson was fired and indicted on charges of murder by the Illinois grand jury, but this can hardly be considered justice. He had previous DUI convictions and has worked for at least six different police departments just since 2020.

If this were an issue of “bad apples” and not a whole rotten racist system, Grayson would never have been given a badge and gun in the first place. These killings would not be a daily occurance. Yet thousands of Black people, including those with disabilities like Massey, meet the same fate at the hands of the police.

Police in the U.S. treat Black people with the same dehumanization and ruthlessness that the Israel Occupation Forces subject Palestinians to. Both U.S. and Israeli police as well as military forces operate as colonial occupying armies in colonized communities. Both commit unfathomable acts of violence on camera for the world to see, with little to no accountability.

Indictment is not enough. Justice can only look like a wholesale dismantling of the racist police and prison system as a bare minimum.

Workers World Party calls for the abolition of U.S. police and reparations for Black people NOW! Justice for Sonya Massey!