Rally in Chicago with family of Sonya Massey, killed by Illinois Sheriff's deputy in early July
CHICAGO (CBS)—The family of Sonya Massey, along with their attorney Ben Crump and supporters like the Rev. Al Sharpton, held a news conference and rally Tuesday evening to call for justice in her case.
Massey was shot and killed by Sangamon County, Illinois sheriff's deputy outside Springfield earlier this month. The now-former deputy, Sean Grayson, has since been fired and charged with Massey's murder.
Through their grief, Massey's addressed a large crowd at the New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, 4301 W. Washington Blvd. They called for police reform.
While it looked like a church service, the people who packed the West Side sanctuary were there for a purpose. They were fired up and furious after body camera video showed now-fired Sangamon County Deputy Sean Grayson shoot and kill Massey inside her home near Springfield.
Massey's family stood front and center with civil rights attorney Ben Crump and activist the Rev. Al Sharpton. But they saw support from more than just Chicagoans.
"We brought a busload of folks in from Detroit. We've got folks who came from Cleveland. We've got folks who came from Flint, Michigan," said Charles Williams II, Midwest director of National Action Network. "I mean, we're here."
Everyone called for accountability.
Massey's son, Malachi-Hill Massey, said he was first told his mother had been shot, all he was told by hospital representatives was that "somebody" had shot her under the eye. He said he initially thought it was an intruder, and never thought it would have turned out to be a police officer.
Advocates also called for police reform—including the ability of the public to review officers' backgrounds.
"When they arrest people in our community, one of the first things they do is check our record," said Sharpton, of the National Action Network, based in New York. "Well, we should have the right to check the record of officers."
Protesters take issue with earlier claim in officer's defense
In particular at the rally, Massey's family and activists have also taken issue with an earlier grievance filed on Grayson's behalf. The union representing Grayson originally argued he was fired unjustly—adding that Grayson deserved back pay. But on Tuesday, the union rescinded that request.
"The reason we called this press conference, Reverend Al, was because we got so many inquiries—attorney [Natalie] Jackson and I—after the police union filed a grievance on behalf of Deputy Sean Grayson, who killed Sonya Massey, saying that he was terminated without cause, and that he should be reinstated, given back pay, and have those charges dropped because he acted in self-defense," said Crump. "And I said, my Lord, Reverend Al—did they see the same video we saw?"
The family has also continued to raise concerns about why Grayson was allowed to join the downstate sheriff's office with his checkered past. Besides joining six departments in four years, Grayson also had a disciplinary file that included accusations of bullying behavior and abuse of power.
A deputy chief and other staff at a previous job in Logan County, Illinois, even asked Grayson about a quote "mountain of public policy violations" against him. When questioned how that county still employed him after seven months, Grayson said he did not know.
His job in Sangamon County was his sixth job in law enforcement since August 2020.
Massey's son said he will feel better if and when there is a conviction against Grayson.
"He needs to go to jail for life. I don't want to see him in public ever again, honestly," Hill-Massey told CBS News Chicago. "Why would they even let him out to the public with a badge and a gun, knowing that—all the stuff he has going on? There's no way. None of this should have happened, honestly."
Meanwhile, Sharpton argued that a 2021 bill that ended up collapsing in the U.S. Senate could have prevented Grayson's repeated moves to jobs with various police departments when he was getting in disciplinary trouble.
"After George Floyd, we drafted the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Among the authors was Kamala Harris, Cory Booker. In the act, it dealt with a law enforcement officer being able to go from district to district getting new job assignments," Sharpton said. "This officer worked in six different jurisdictions inside of four years—six—which would have been illegal under the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act."
CBS News Chicago spoke to the pastor of the church about some of Massey's final words, caught on police body camera video. The Rev. Marshall Hatch weighed in on why Massey might have told Grayson quote, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus," before she is seen ducking to the floor and is shot and killed.
"When she says that, she means I sense unwarranted aggression, and I don't know why, so I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. It's her way of saying where is all this coming from? I don't understand it's befuddling to her that's kind of a cultural lens that might be missed by some people," said Rev. Hatch.
The symbolic significance of a rally on Chicago's West Side
The church where the protest is held is located on Chicago's West Side, a long way away from where Sonya Massey lived in Springfield but a short drive from the United Center—where police reform is expected to be a top issue at the upcoming DNC.
The Rev. Sharpton, Crump, and Massey's family also want Massey's case to be front and center for the convention.
Rev. Hatch also noted that the West Side was where Black Panthers Chicago chapter Chairman Fred Hampton organized—and where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also organized in the 1960s.
The church was also the site of the delivery of the eulogy for Quintonio LeGrier and Bettie Jones, Hatch pointed out. LeGrier was killed in a controversial police shooting in the West Garfield Park neighborhood in 2015, and a bullet from Chicago Police Officer Robert Rialmo's gun also struck and killed Jones—LeGrier's neighbor.
Police reform is essential, said Sharpton. He said the Massey case should be a driving force to pass the George Floyd Police Reform act.
"The issue of police reform and police misconduct—in Laquan McDonald's town, where the police didn't pay—should not go unspoken to," said Sharpton.
On Saturday, July 6, Grayson was one of two Sangamon County Sheriff's deputies to respond to Massey's house in an unincorporated area just outside Springfield, when she called 911 to report a prowler.
The footage showed Grayson shot Massey in the head as she crouched down in her kitchen—after he ordered her to drop a pot of water that had been on the stove.
Grayson was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. He has pleaded not guilty.
"We understand the sheriff went and apologized to the community, and said that they failed Sonya Massey, they failed Sonya Massey's family, and they failed the community," Crump said. "Well, your actions speak louder than your words. What are you going to do about it?"
In addition to Hill-Massey, Massey's mother, Donna Massey; father, James Wilburn; and 15-year-old daughter, Jeanette Summer Massey, were in attendance at the news conference and rally at New Mount Pilgrim Tuesday evening. Also present was the family of Jacob Blake, who was shot and paralyzed by a police officer in an incident that led to several nights of civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin nearly four years ago.