More than 100 activists from groups including Chicago's Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression converged at Chicago's Federal Plaza on Saturday at a rally to demand change in light of the deadly police shooting of 36-year-old Sonya Massey in Springfield.
“I don’t want justice for Sonya Massey, I want change for Sonya Massey," one speaker stated.
Officials said Massey called police for help when she thought an intruder or prowler was on her property. Sangamon County Sheriff Deputy Sean Grayson and another officer responded.
Sheriff’s body camera video released Monday confirmed prosecutors’ earlier account of the tense moment when Grayson yelled across a counter at Massey to set down a pot of hot water. He then threatened to shoot the unarmed woman, Massey ducked and briefly rose, and Grayson fired his pistol at her. Massey was hit three times, with a fatal shot to her head.
"As I was watching it, I was thinking this was like the most horrific police murders I've ever seen in my life," said CAARPR member Faayani Aboma Mijana. "It raises questions about who do we call. For us, we’re realizing, we keep us safe.”
The group is calling on Congress and President Joe Biden to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed the House in 2021 but has yet to move forward three years later.
"The Democratic Party was voted in specifically in response to the killing of George Floyd," said Aboma Mijana. "Black voters turned out in historic numbers, and so they need to follow through on the promise they made.”
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Others at Saturday's rally echoed similar distaste.
“How long are we going to stand for this political football game," one speaker questioned. "We already know Donald Trump ain’t right. We already knew Joe Biden wasn’t right, so now we’re in another political football game of someone that is not right.”
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The groups all plan to march outside of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month.
“We’re bringing people with us to tell them to stop police crimes and community police now," said Aboma Mijana. "We see the Democratic Party as playing a huge role in letting these police crimes proliferate.”
