On Monday, the Illinois State Police released video of a sheriff’s officer shooting and killing a woman in her home this month. The video showed details of a shooting that some people compared to high-profile cases in which police have used too much force against Black Americans.
Sean Grayson, a white officer fired from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office and charged with three counts of first-degree murder last week, shot Sonya Massey three times. A charge of aggravated battery and a charge of government misconduct are also against him.
President Joe Biden said in a statement on Monday, “Sonya’s death at the hands of a police officer reminds us that all too often Black Americans fear for their safety in ways that many of the rest of us do not.”
“I think what the Springfield State’s Attorney’s office did was right. He asked lawmakers to pass a bill named after George Floyd, who was killed by a white police officer in 2020, even though it had been put on hold. “While we wait for the case to be prosecuted, let us pray to comfort the grieving,” he said.
To look into a report of a possible “prowler” at 12:50 a.m. on July 6, Grayson, 30, and the second cop were called to Massey’s home in Springfield, which is about 200 miles (322 km) outside of Chicago.
The officers wore cameras that caught the video, which shows Massey, 36, in her kitchen taking a pot of boiling water off the stove when they asked her to. The cop who was with her, who has not been named, backed out of the kitchen and into the living room at the same time. He said he wanted to get away from the water that was boiling.
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