Former President Donald Trump faced a slew of questions when he was interviewed at the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention in Chicago Wednesday, and he was asked about his support of qualified immunity for police officers in the wake of the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey.
Massey was shot and killed in her Springfield home earlier this month in a case that stunned the nation. Video of the incident was quickly released, and Officer Sean Grayson was charged with aggravated murder in the case and stripped of his police powers.
Trump has been outspoken in his support of police officers, but has gone a step further in recent campaign appearances, calling for nearly blanket “immunity from prosecution” for officers.
When asked about those comments in the context of the Massey shooting, Trump said he wasn’t fully up-to-date on the case, and discussed recent violence in Chicago as an example of why police officers need more protection in courts and in the view of public opinion.
“I’m talking about people that are much different cases, and that we need police to protect ourselves, and by the way in Chicago is an example a few weeks ago,” he said. “July 4 weekend, there were 117 shootings and 17 deaths. Nobody wants that. We need to have our police officers have the respect and dignity back. I saw something that didn’t look good.”
Trump said that he did not support full immunity from prosecution, but said that the limited time officers have to make decisions should be taken into consideration.
“There’s a big difference between being a bad person and making an innocent mistake,” he said. “Sometimes you have less than a second to make a life and death decision, and sometimes very bad decisions are made. They’re not made from an evil standpoint, but they’re made from the standpoint of ‘they’ve made a mistake.’”
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Throughout his campaign, Trump has blasted Democrats for wanting to “defund police,” and has said during recent rallies that his administration would “give police their power back” in an effort to reduce crime.
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“We’re going to give our police their power back and we are going to give them immunity from prosecution,” Trump said at a July rally in Wisconsin.
Massey’s death stunned the nation, with body camera footage showing Grayson and another officer failing to find evidence of a prowler at the home where Massey was living.
According to NBC 5 Investigates, Grayson and the other officer waited for Massey to answer her door, during which time Grayson made a comment that she was “dead inside.”
Massey, who had suffered mental health issues, appeared confused and said “Don’t hurt me.”
Inside Massey’s home, video showed Grayson directing that a pan of water be removed from a flame on the stove. Massey appeared to set it near the sink. The two joke about Grayson moving away from her “hot, steaming water” and Massey inexplicably says, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
That prompted Grayson to pull his gun. Massey apologized and ducked behind a counter, but when Grayson yelled at her to drop the pot, she appeared to pick it up again. Grayson fired three shots, striking her in the face, and made no immediate effort to provide medical aid because “that’s a headshot.”
The Fraternal Order of Police, which had filed a grievance on behalf of Grayson after he was fired, has told NBC 5 Investigates that they will not pursue the grievance.
“As a labor organization, the IL FOP Labor Council has an obligation to all our members to preserve the procedural due process rights contained in our collective bargaining agreements. These rights include the right to avail the grievance process, and to do so, strict timelines must be met. Therefore, grievances are filed as a matter of course. We as a Union, in turn, have internal processes in place to ensure these rights are preserved while at the same time proper evaluation of all grievances takes place. These internal processes are applied to ALL our members; we do not play favorites or discriminate, regardless of the circumstances surrounding a grievance. The same internal processes apply to all members who file grievances, including Sean Grayson. We have arrived at that final stage of the process where a determination can be made regarding whether or not to proceed with Sean Grayson’s grievance. The Union has determined that it will NOT be proceeding any further.
Our obligations under the collective bargaining agreement and to our members do not take away from the sympathy we feel for the family and loved ones of Sonya Massey. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and with all those impacted by this tragedy.”
