The United States is still facing an episode of violence involving law enforcement: a black woman was shot dead by a white police officer in Illinois, according to body camera footage of the officer, who has been charged with murder.
Attorney Ben Crump, who is heavily involved in cases of police violence against black people and who represents the family of the victim, Sonya Massey, called the killing “senseless” on Tuesday.
At a news conference, he also said that police initially tried to minimize their responsibility, according to the family, and pointed the finger at the neighborhood.
According to video released Monday by Illinois State Police, Mme Massey, 36, was unarmed when the incident happened July 6 in Springfield.
In a country where cases of black people or people from ethnic minorities killed by white police officers often make headlines, President Joe Biden responded Monday by saying in a statement that the young woman “should still be alive.”
On July 6 after midnight, Mme Massey called police because she suspected an attempted break-in at her home, according to the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.
Inside, the two officers asked him to turn off a pot of water boiling on the stove “to prevent a fire,” according to the video footage.
She grabbed the pot and one of the officers stepped back. When the woman asked why, the officer laughed and said he wanted to “get away from his boiling water.”
“Unjustifiable”
Sonya Massey rebuked him for this attitude, saying calmly twice: “Oh, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
“You shouldn’t. I swear to God I’m shooting your fucking head,” one of the officers replied, pulling out his gun.
The woman crouched behind a counter, holding the pan in her hands. The officers then shouted at her, “Drop the fucking pan,” and shots rang out.
They then explained that they were afraid of being doused with boiling water.
One of them, Sean Grayson, was charged with voluntary manslaughter.
Local Sheriff Jack Campbell called the decision to open fire “unjustifiable” and said the officer “had other options.”
“When we call for help, all of us as Americans—no matter who we are or where we live—should be able to do so without fearing for our lives,” President Biden said in his statement.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, plans to speak with the victim’s family, according to Ben Crump, who said authorities have promised a “fair and transparent” investigation.
In September 2023, experts commissioned by the UN claimed that there was “systemic and deep-rooted racism” against the black community within the American police and justice systems, a “legacy of slavery”.
The panel was created after the 2020 death of African-American George Floyd, who was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota — a tragedy that sparked a wave of protests in the United States.
In this country where police services are decentralized and where there are more weapons in circulation than inhabitants, there is no single training for police officers.