Joe Biden has called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, moments after shocking police video was released showing an Illinois officer fatally shooting Sonya Massey after she called police fearing a home intruder.
In his first public statement since dropping his bid for re-election, Biden said the shooting of Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, by white Sangamon county sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, in her home in Springfield, after a dispute over a pot of boiling water, “reminds us that all too often Black Americans face fears for their safety in ways many of the rest of us do not”.
Biden, who is recovering from Covid at his home in Delaware, said Massey, “a beloved mother, friend, daughter and young Black woman … should be alive today”.
The thing I found most interesting about the whole interaction is that the first thing the police say to her when they make contact is “we looked around outside and didn’t find anyone”. Like they’re challenging her to contradict them.
That is technically true, but it omits some very relevant information, i.e. that they found a vehicle parked nearby which had very clearly been broken into. That might not have happened that evening, but they don’t know that. And they don’t mention it when they talk to her. They instead start by saying that the reason she called (she heard a prowler) could not be confirmed. This statement sets up the entire tone of their interaction. There’s nobody for them to arrest, so now they’re clearly annoyed that she’s wasting their time. They start treating her like a suspect instead of a victim. They want her name, her ID. They invite themselves in without cause and start looking through her house. It escalates from there, and ends in murder. The shooting officer then outright lies about the circumstances of the shooting, saying Massey was coming at him with a pot of boiling water and threatening him. She had put the pot down in the sink and was just standing in the kitchen. See, he’d turned his body camera off and didn’t realize his partner was still recording.
This was a fucking extra-judicial execution.
Like they’re challenging her to contradict them.
I had a slightly different take on this - if she had said “OK thanks guys, I feel a lot better now. See you later.” it probably all wouldn’t have ended in murder.
What I can’t understand is why they entered the house after that interaction and the video I saw didn’t show.
After that it all went downhill aggressively. The tone of her “Jesus retribution” comment was actually very soft. The cop putting his hand on his gun and his incredibly aggressive tone was mental. Pure escalation with someone who obviously has mental health issues. She was never going to get out alive. :( It reminded me of that awful video of the young lad on the hotel floor who was executed. Very upsetting to watch.
What I can’t understand is why they entered the house after that interaction and the video I saw didn’t show.
To my knowledge, there was no reason or justification given. Grayson had turned off his body cam, and his partner had walked away to get the license plate of the car in the driveway. Grayson followed her into her home asking for ID. She seemed confused and scattered through the whole encounter. She might have been intoxicated or on medication. She might have had mental health problems. She may have even been using illegal drugs. But none of that is a crime if you’re in your own home not bothering anyone. IMO, they were fishing for a reason to treat her as a suspect.
This video has a good breakdown with footage from both officers’ body cams: https://youtu.be/7jP3FGj7syI
Just watching it now. Heads up you linked to near the end of the video so for anyone else this is the start.
Very upsetting viewing so far tbh so exercise caution on whether or not you’re up for viewing.
Edit: Oh God this just gets worse and worse the more I watch. He had a tazer and chose his gun. :( That poor woman. Still watching in pieces as it’s busy here…
Just finished. It’s a good analysis of a terrible situation. Zero justification for killing that woman. Just a little kindness and it all could have been avoided. The killer was a giant dick from start to finish.
Fixed the link. Thanks for the heads up!
No worries. Thanks for the link to the video. It was a good analysis, an unpleasant watch but I’m glad I saw it.
Also fuck that guy. Like really, really fuck that guy. Just a single ounce of empathy or kindness instead of frustration and anger and that woman would still be alive and her family wouldn’t be grieving this.
But also I’m glad to see justice being done (so far).
I do feel sorry for his partner, who obviously early on knew the guy wasn’t OK on that particular day, tried to smooth him out early on in the car but unfortunately wasn’t able to. The whole thing is very sad.
Oh yikes. Thanks for the extra context. I’ll give that video you linked a watch this evening.
Good comment but I think doing ‘illegal drugs’ in your own home is still illegal.
Fair. I should re-word. Yes, if they had evidence that she was actually using, that might be grounds for arrest. But they’d still need cause to enter her house and arrest her, and just suspecting that she’s using because she’s acting weird isn’t sufficient. Here’s my re-word: Just being high in your own home is not illegal.
Oh for sure, it shouldn’t be illegal. I’m Australian, it’s not actually illegal to use or be on drugs here. But obviously possession, manufacture, selling etc is illegal.
But I believe in most states in the US it is illegal to use/be under the influence of drugs? Someone chime in if I’m wrong
What I can’t understand is why they entered the house after that interaction
To find an excuse to
punisharrest her.To find an excuse to
punisharrest her.To find an excuse to
punish arrestmurder her.
Regardless of context from the onset the dialogue was between someone in a position of power and someone who wasn’t. Regardless of the reaction of the woman the cop was in the position of power. Any failing was on him and him alone. Men (yes I’m generalizing The Internet and that you are a man) need to understand this. White men (yes I’m generalizing The Internet and that you are a white man) need to understand this.
Regardless of the context this was about power. Shit needs to change.
I agree with you on everything you said (and yeah I’m a white lad). Beyond what you said, the dialogue also included so much frustration and ultimately murderous rage. It could have been dealt with so kindly and so easily and wasn’t.
The one caveat I’ll give is that I live an ocean away in a country where cops don’t carry guns. We never face things like this and I am so fucking glad that we don’t. This whole thing was tragic. I’m really upset about it. It honestly fucked up my evening but I can only imagine what it’s done to her family. :(
“With great power, there must come great responsibility.” Spider-Man comes up in a lot of my political arguments and it’s an incredibly useful tool to get to some people.
I keep telling people that it isn’t a Spider-Man quote. It is Uncle Ben. That man gets so little respect.
I’ve been saying for years that the movie franchise should have been called Uncle Ben feat. Spider-Man
I dont care what sex you are or what or who you are but Honest to god I dont even give a fucking shit what the fuck ypur point is I dont get on the internet for power tripping fucking whatever the fuck you are fucks to power tripe when all I am doing is minding my own business and honestly I dont really give a fuck. K? Understand? ass head fuck guy or girl whatever the fuck you are guy
Lolwut?
hi 8)
As a retired medic who has has to deal with my share of the mentally ill, I will try to add a little context perhaps.
What got them to enter the apartment is they probably realized they were dealing with a mentally ill person who was not properly on their meds, (we can’t say for sure at this point - but it’s as likely as not), and they then started what should have been a simple welfare check. Which can entail entry to observe the person and the general living conditions. Cops do welfare checks everyday, multiple times a day. The next step if they determine there is a problem, is to request medical assistance, an ambulance, to deal with the person. The cops are to remain in scene and assist if needed - i.e. help talk the patient into seeking medical help or sometimes stop an assault on EMS. But that’s what SHOULD have happened.
Instead a straight up murder was committed.
That might be the excuse they felt they would be able to use but I have a hard time believing these assholes cared about her mental health.
Yea Daniel Shaver. This is the exact same video and I consider that the most sensless police murder we have on film.
That’s his name. Thank you. I knew his first name but didn’t want to Google it to be reminded of it any more than necessary tbh. It’s one of those occasional intrusive thoughts videos for me that I’m sure we all have our own little library of.
I still can’t believe the killer got away with it. Daniel had no way to get out alive.
From other articles I’ve read she was schizophrenic and a neighbor had said that this was a fairly common occurrence.
Oh dang, the punishment for schizophrenia in America is execution? You all have it rough over there.
Having mental illness in America might as well be a crime. Local jails are just mental healthcare facilities without the mental healthcare.
sad that there is no way to contradict this since any judge will side with the cop and his buddies on the force who backed his story up
and police reform is not even talked about with the candidates anymore plus Biden has completely forgotten his campaign promise of police reform
Biden has completely forgotten his campaign promise of police reform
A) not true.
B) not even remotely relevant
Democrats tried to pass police reform bills in congress multiple times this term and were blocked by Republicans at every turn. Biden did what he was able to do and enacted an executive order that was the most comprehensive police reform action in decades. But there are limits to what he can do. So please fuck off with your attempt to turn this into Biden’s fault by telling lies.
the current police problem was in part grown by Biden’s efforts during his fifty years as a politician
Partially true but irrelevant. You’re shifting the goalposts because your first argument was a total lie. How about you admit it was wrong before you start shifting things to pretend you were “actually” correct because some other only tangentially related information is useful.
Biden is literally begging lawmakers to pass the policing act he put together. He isn’t a dictator, it’s up to Congress and the Senate to pass these bills
Joe Biden has called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, moments after shocking police video was released showing an Illinois officer fatally shooting Sonya Massey after she called police fearing a home intruder.
This is not talking about it, huh? Thanks for not even reading the summary in your neverending quest to get Trump elected.
he was talking much harder before when he was on the campaign trail making it out like he was serious about pushing for national reform
Okay, so the officer orders her to take a pot of boiling water off the stove, and then shoots her in the face for doing so.
No wonder those charges came so fast.
The crazy thing seemed fairly relaxed until she said she “rebuked him unto Jesus”. Seemed like it went from “haha I don’t want to be around a person carrying boiling water”, and she seemed to respond jokingly with the Jesus thing, which immediately made the cop respond as if she just pointed a gun at him?
Does this guy think this lady is some kind of biblical sorcerer?
Can’t wait for the defense being:
“She said she was going to ‘rebuke me in the name of Jesus’ and I felt my soul was in imminent danger from this woman and her boiling cauldron of witchcraft”
Trump appointed judge: Sustained!
Does this guy think this lady is some kind of biblical sorcerer?
See my other comment about where Springfield, IL, is; it’s not out of the question.
This is the result of indoctrinating children into magical thinking and giving them guns.
I definitely don’t think it was a joke. Her twitchy nature and constant fear strike me as someone facing a mental health issue. Specifically schizophrenia as she said she was hearing people around the house. All that said, a cop should be able to recognize those signs immediately and should have used less lethal force at the most. His first instinct shouldn’t have been to bridge the gap and get closer after he felt “threatened.”
Schizophrenic people still have a sense of humor… To me it came off as if she recognized that the cop was afraid of her and made a snappy comeback, because it’s generally offensive to be accused of wanting to mame strangers with boiling water.
Rebuke just means to criticize, it’s not an attack, or even aggressive. To rebuke someone to God, is just saying your going to complain about their behavior to God. Tbh the moments before she was killed seem to me the most coherent and responsive she behaved during the entire encounter.
This was what I got from it too. She was offended that they would think that she would attack them with boiling water.
It’s kinda like she said “don’t bring that Hateful ideas into my house.” She was warding of the bad juju and disagreeing at the same time.
I think she’s also not dumb and knows what officers are capable of and might have knew where things were going. The police were escalating the situation for no good reason. And she was scared, cause they kill people who are black for very little. In this case they killed her for listening to them.
Not when they’re paranoid. Which she is now confirmed to have been a paranoid schizophrenic. It runs in my family and I’ve seen it quite frequently and heard the stories of others in my family that have seen it. When you know the signs it’s incredibly easy to spot, and police should be trained on the simple signs to figure this out and better help them keep a situation calm.
police should be trained on the simple signs to figure this out and better help them keep a situation calm.
Or just maybe, we should have other workers available than tinhorn sheriff wannabes with guns in our local governments that you can call to de-escalate situations. But no no, that’d be too much like defunding the police.
A good friend of mine lives in Burlington, VT and has schizophrenia. There is a service there, First Call, that will send people trained to recognize mental illness and deescalate the situation only getting police involved as a last resort.
Or at least that’s how it is supposed to go. Said friend was still drug away by police with First Call on the scene before. At least they weren’t shot, I guess. Still if they are ever in need of outside intervention I saved the number in my phone and I’m sure as shit not calling the police on them.
I wish more cities had a similar service.
She actively thought people were outside her house trying to get in. That’s what you send the police for. A counselor can’t ask someone to go away if there was an actual threat and they were armed. This is one of those events where a police officer was the best initial call and then as things continued the way they were they should have brought in a counselor.
And the fact that he turned his camera off right before he killed her makes this first degree for sure
I don’t think he turned it off before he shot her, just that he didn’t have it on until after he shot her.
This is still murder and he’s a fuckin pig that should rot in the prison industrial complex he feeds. Fuck him and his cop buddies. But I didn’t get the info from this article that he turned it off himself. Just didn’t turn it on in the first place, which he’s supposed to do before every interaction.
Just glad they’re not messing around with this one, and went ahead with the three charges of first degree murder.
And wouldn’t you know it, it’s thanks to bodycam footage that we have irrefutable proof of this clear and unquestionably excessive use of force against an innocent victim.
The bodycam footage that thousands of police departments throughout the US are still pushing back against because they want people to think it impedes their ability to appropriately deliver justice, when it is actually, finally, allowing justice to take place. The necessity of which was caused primarily by police brutality against people of color, just like this situation, where there was no witness account other than the cop’s side of the story.
If this happened ten years ago, back before bodycams became more widespread, the cop would have gotten off with a short paid suspension and no other punishment, because all there would be is the cop’s one-sided account of how she clearly assaulted him with a deadly weapon and reached for his gun.
If I were a cop I’d be happy to have a body cam because it would help me cover my ass in case someone accused me of something.
But this attitude is probably why I’m not a cop.
Are body cams really providing justice? Where is Sonya’s justice? Hailing body cams as the ultimate police reform is the type of thing I’d expect a cop to say. For people who have been experiencing this racist police violence for generations, it’s clear that body cams are at best a half measure, and at worst a means of documenting all of the brutal murders that pigs continue to carry out on innocent people while body cams are running. The answer isn’t in body cams, but in comprehensive police reform. So long as the pigs are running around with sus norse tattoos, toxic masculinity (“nah im good” -cop who just developed a tremor in has hand after holding in the brains of a gasping woman for 5 min), guaranteed firearms, no psychological training, gang support via departments, body cams aren’t really going to do shit to protect at-risk people.
I am very critical of this ultra pro body cam discourse. It seems like a distraction. Make no mistake, there is no justice today because of the body cams present for Sonya’s execution.
I suppose the definition of justice is flexible, between preventative justice and restorative justice and so on, but in this case I am referring specifically to holding guilty people accountable for their actions. There will be no making right what happened here, not by any stretch of the imagination, and there is still a lot more work that needs to be done to make sure this sort of thing never happens again. But while I am sure it is of little consolation to Sonya’s family, her murderer is going to prison.
I know there are long-standing charicatures in media of the “corrupt cop” type of character shooting some innocent person and then planting a knife or drugs on them to make it look like self-defense, but that wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t some grain of truth to it.
With the body cam footage that had been released, there is no question of his guilt. There’s no way for the police to cover this up by painting another innocent victim as a criminal, dragging her name through the mud, just to keep this racist scumbag on payroll and free to keep terrorizing the people he’s supposed to protect. The racists don’t have to gather in droves to protect this monster and put a community through hell to further some disgusting agenda or another.
It doesn’t fill the void, but it is some degree of justice which is better than none.
… You act as if cops don’t love bodycams too lol.
Everyone but the people doing dumb shit loves accountability. Cops love that it gets bad apples out before they spoil anything too.
https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/body-worn-cameras-what-evidence-tells-us
Cops love that it gets bad apples out before they spoil anything too.
Too late!
Dude, the bad apples spoiled things long before any of us were born.
That’s not really how churn works but okay.
Unless by apples you mean society in general, because people are everywhere. But that’s more indicative of your bushel, not ours lol.
No, I mean the police in general. Do you really not know how police were even worse to black people before the Civil Rights act?
… so… you’re in agreement with them lol?
How did you even come close to getting that from what I said?
6 departments in 4 years, this cop shouldn’t have had a job period. This department is partly liable for this just by employing him
That was worse than I was picturing. She immediately dropped to her knees while saying sorry (twice, panicked) , with her hands up and they shot her. She had released the pot the moment they got aggravated. It’s such a shame that this keeps happening and the only response police have is “more money please.”
Just tired of reading about this shit while our DOJ twiddles its thumbs and our legislature waves little “Blue Lives Matter” flags in the faces of the survivors.
There’s a reason ACAB is a thing. They’re the most destructive gang in the world.
Start at the top, every chief, superintendent and supervisor should be on trial. They should all serve time and lose their chance to police…
I saw the video, the cop had absolutely no justification for it. I don’t care what his religious believes are, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus” is not a valid reason. What’s heartbreaking is what her last words were: “I’m sorry”.
In a just world the cop would get a minimum of 20 years and possibly even a life sentence or capital punishment.
I’m confused. I may have missed it, but why are religious beliefs even in this conversation? Did he say that he shot her for Jesus or something?
I agree that this POS should rot, the video just shows a murderer murdering an innocent person.
Edit: I missed the part of the video where the lady says the Jesus stuff. I see what you are saying now.
If innocent people are killed by police then it should lead to a federal independent investigation. Don’t care if it was an accident (chasing a suspect) or direct.
And the police department’s policies shouldn’t exonerate them by default. When departments investigate themselves, they just say “our policy encourages the police to kill anyone they see in this situation, so the officer’s actions were in line with our policies.”
That, and not allow it to stay open so no one is at fault. Point blank- innocent person dies independent investigation.
“our policies” = this is how we want our cops to treat you, suck it up.
I never understood how “our policies” is legally binding and defensible in court. I hope the sovereign citizens don’t catch on.
yeah, wtf. my policy is to steal cars, can’t be held liable, it’s my policy.
makes zero sense.
For those not in the know, Springfield, IL, is the state capital (capitol?). It’s waaaay down in the generally rural middle of the state, with a 2022 population of just over 113,000. It is not anything like the Chicago metro area.
Capital. A Capitol is the building where the legislature presides.
Thanks, I’m too old to be president.
Uh, it’s Kepitill
nein, das ist kapital
I spelled “capitol” instead of “capital” in my elementary school spelling bee and I’m still bitter about it
It’s weird and dumb and arbitrary, but just to answer your uncertainty, it’s “capital” in this context.
Capital means, in vague terms, the highest of something. So in regards to a city, it refers to the most important city (for the government, anyways) in a given administrative region (e.g., state capital, national capital).
Capitol, with an O, refers specifically to the building where the US government is housed and the hill it sits on.
I don’t know if they have a shared etymology but it wouldn’t surprise me.
According to etymonline.com, capital comes from “Latin capitalis ‘of the head’”. Capitol comes from “Latin Capitolium, [the] name of the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, protector of the city, on the Capitoline Hill in ancient Rome”. The American architecture “deliberately evokes Roman republican imagery”. The “relationship of Capitoline to capital is likely but not certain”.
Interesting! Thanks for making me look that up!
This guy spent no time talking about the stovetop…
Well, in this particular incident that the post is about, there was definitely a stovetop that had a pot of boiling water on it. That’s apparently worth shooting someone over…
Thank you. You may carry on
It’s almost exactly like one of the many generic looking suburbs, maybe a little ghetto, definitely not Hicksville some some other places. There’s pockets of suburban areas in Central Illinois such as Bloomington/Normal and Champaign/Urbana
Start with getting rid of qualified immunity and make cop training more like it is in civilized countries.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act does exactly that!
make cop training more like it is in civilized countries.
You mean instead of Israeli training? You don’t like you’re cops trained by tHe MoSt MoRaL aRmY iN tHe WoRlD?
Right? Let’s just pass another bullshit bill with a victims name instead of doing anything like that that will actually help the problem though.
Oh look someone who doesn’t comprehend how governments work.
The president today in one hour could end qualified immunity. Tell me what isn’t true about that? In fact, even states could make their own legislation to make their states police forces not have it either.
I mean the entire precedent is based on a court case Pearson v. Callahan which can be overturned just like Roe v. Wade was. (Also Harlow v. Fitzgerald)
Bit please do educate me on how anything I said isn’t true and bless me with your knowledge of this “government” you speak of.
“Away from the hot steaming water? Oh, I’ll rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” was apparently enough for a white police officer to pull out his gun and shoot an innocent black woman three times.
What the fuck?
This is legitimately worse than what happened to George Floyd. Like… I genuinely feel angry for the relatives of this poor woman after watching that bodycam footage.
They’ve slowly grown empowered into full-on racism, so it’s no wonder they also generally have no problem supporting apartheid and genocide in the Middle East.
They who?
No, in fact they would consider the doctor too “woke” for them.
Well played
Does the proposed bill ensure American police get like three years training to become community-oriented and not a power tripping police officers?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cop_City
Exactly the reverse, actually
That has nothing to do with the bill which hasn’t passed. this feels like people blaming the New Green Deal for things.
I’m not trying to victim blame but please please everyone in america, stop calling the police when you need help.
If you have a problem and you call the police, you now have two problems.
I’m not from the US, but that sounds like bad advice.
There is no bad situation that police can’t make worse.
It should be bad advice! But sadly, all too often american police just escalate the situation and people and dogs end up dying. They kill over 1000 people per year in this country.
I am quite aware of that from the US news. Nevertheless, please be aware that there are people who take social media at face value. So please don’t make any recommendations that go against common sense.
I don’t concern myself with those who can’t do their own critical thinking.
What you do is not critical thinking at all. I don’t think you’ve ever read up on that. What you do is not in any way better than Trump and his minions do. It’s just polemics with no substance whatsoever.
I’m not claiming to be doing any critical thinking with any of the posts I’ve made in this thread. I’m saying that anyone reading that shit should add that opinion to their personal collection of information and make their own decisions on what to do with it.
For example, you took that information and decided to piss and moan. That’s your choice, I’m not judging.
Most other people, with the “common sense” you speak of, nodded and kept scrolling.
In any case, if you find yourself in america and you hear somebody fucking around at your window and maybe you’re not white, you can decide what to do with all that gathered information you’ve been collecting.
In my experience as a US citizen, the police are never there to help. They are there to screw you over and they are liars.
Come visit, see the sights, call the police!
Rip.
If you’re in the US and a person of color that’s good advice. I’m from third world country and I find the police in my area courteous, of course there are still bad apples out here but they are becoming a minority.
For anyone wondering how this happens, please watch this, yeah, I know, it’s 30 minutes… I assure you it’s worth it.
NSFW language.
The important bit:
Police suffer from paranoid delusions that they are the “thin line” between good and evil and that they are the ultimate example of virtue. They justify their own actions as for the greater good. It is a job that requires you lack critical thinking skills and officers are brainwashed into enforcing a certain ideal puratain society where one must be obedient to authority and work hard and suffer to be a moral and good person.
They are literally trained to think like that. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/08/warrior-cop-class-dave-grossman-killology.html
A TL;DW would likely get more views.
Essentially: Cops are taught that everyone and everything is trying to kill them and anything that seems remotely dangerous is a lethal threat they need to “neutralize”. Also, as soon as you let your guard down, you’re dead. This leads to overreactions and unjust killings…
Now, that’s not entirely wrong as police frequently deal with higher levels of unknown dangers but in this case…holy shit wtf?
I fully support others spending a half hour learning about what law enforcement are taught. If you’ve not seen something like this before then it’s definitely worth your time.
I want to add that Park Rangers are law enforcement. They’ve exceptionally high standards for hiring. And, the pay sucks.
I’ve broken rules in many parks, sometimes with good reason and sometimes without, usually very safely but once or twice definitely not. I’ve been “busted” about a dozen times by Park Rangers.
Every single time I’ve been treated with dignity, respect, and honoring the spirit of justice over the letter of the law. I’ve not been punished when I thought I should be, then been told that’s the reason there’s no punishment. And, when I’ve been punished I’ve agreed with the severity and nature of it wholeheartedly. It’s quite literally the opposite of what I’ve experienced as a colored man in big cities.
Note: I watched the entire thing when it came out whenever that was.
Thanks for posting I enjoyed watching that
What a sick human that cop is. Dude should fucking fry.
The way he behaved after he shot her is what seals the deal. He didn’t want to waste the bandages from his first aid kit on her.
He’s a complete psychopath.
He even starts the enocunter aggressively outside. Like he’s angry he had to look outside and is taking it out on her.
The tone of his voice, his body language, and everything about this man screams psychopath.
Yea…that cop is getting life in prison. There’s no defense for that.
There’s no defense for that.
Not even Qualified Immunity?
Qualified Immunity protects against civil suit, not criminal charges.
