Add Sonya Massey to the long list of senseless killings of Black Americans at the hands of police | Editorial

The inexcusable death of Sonya Massey, who was shot in her home by an Illinois sheriff’s deputy who apparently feared she might throw a pot of hot water at him, further makes the case that too many police officers being trusted to serve and protect the public are either ill-trained or never should have been hired.

Massey, 36, called 911 shortly before 1 a.m. on July 6, saying she thought a prowler was lurking outside her home. Two Sangamon County, Ill., deputies responded, noticed the broken windows of a black SUV parked outside, and then knocked on Massey’s door. She opened it, but seemed confused or perhaps experiencing a mental issue. “Don’t hurt me,” she shouted. “Please, God. I don’t know what to do.”

Nevertheless, she allowed the deputies to enter her home. Sean Grayson asked for her identification so he could include it in his report. As she searched her purse for her ID, he pointed out a pot over a flame on the stove. She grabbed it, took it to her kitchen sink, and then asked Grayson where he was going. He laughingly replied, “Away from your hot, steaming water.”

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Massey unexpectedly responded, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” whereupon Grayson pulled his 9 mm pistol and threatened to shoot her in the face. He repeatedly told her to put down the pot. She said, “I’m sorry,” but then ducked, and Grayson fired three shots, with one fatally hitting Massey in the head.

Video of the surreal event captured on the deputies’ body cameras provides no evidence that Grayson, who is now charged with murder, had no alternative but to use lethal force. Illinois First Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Beth Rodgers said the distance between Grayson and Massey negated any perceived threat. “At no point did this defendant show anything but callousness toward human life,” Rodgers said.

Grayson has been fired by the sheriff’s department, which said he “did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards.” However, the former deputy’s background also suggests he never should have been hired in the first place. Discharged from the Army in 2016 for unspecified misconduct, he subsequently worked for six police agencies in Illinois despite having previously pleaded guilty twice to driving under the influence of alcohol.

Grayson killing Massey brings to mind similar cases involving Black victims and white police officers, including the 2020 shooting of Breonna Taylor, 26, who was fatally shot in her own home by Louisville, Ky., officers making a drug bust at the wrong house. In 2018, a white Dallas police officer, who tried to enter an apartment she mistakenly believed was hers, shot and killed the actual apartment resident, Botham Jean, 26, when he opened the door.

Lest anyone think race doesn’t matter, studies show Black Americans are three times more likely than white Americans to be shot by police in this country. Police through June of this year had killed 744 people; 280 of them white and 176 Black, but non-Hispanic whites are 60% of the U.S. population while African Americans are 13%. Those statistics bolster the U.S. Justice Department’s decision to investigate the Massey shooting.

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It’s daunting that 60 years after the world was shocked to see police dogs sicced on children and others marching for civil rights, too much of law enforcement in this country remains biased.

That prejudice is reflected not only in the number of Black people being killed by police, but also in statistics that show African Americans are incarcerated in state prisons at five times the rate of white Americans, and that Black inmates make up more than 50% of the prison populations in 12 states (Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia).

Better training and screening of police recruits may help prevent senseless deaths like those of Breonna Taylor, Botham Jean, and now Sonya Massey. But much more is needed to change the consciousness of a nation that in too many cases continues to associate criminal behavior with a person’s skin color. Not even having a Black president significantly changed that dynamic, but leadership at that level is essential if any additional progress is to be made.