"Tragic Beyond Proportions": Attorney Ben Crump on Sonya Massey's Killing and Police Cover-Up

[Uncle Joe]

The family of Sonya Massey is demanding justice after they say authorities tried to cover up her fatal shooting by a sheriff’s deputy in Springfield, Illinois, by initially claiming it was “self-inflicted.” Police body-camera footage showed this was a lie. The 36-year-old mother of two was shot dead in her own home on July 6 after she called 911 for help. “This is the worst police shooting video that I’ve seen. It is so senseless,” says Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing the family. “[Massey] needed a helping hand. She did not need a bullet to the face.”

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[SamKnause]

1. "I'll sh**t you in the face." Seconds latter he sh*t her in the face.

Scum of the earth.

The only life that means anything to cops are their own.

We are nothing but slabs of meat to them.

They are trained to hate us.

They are trained to view us as the enemy.

They are trained to fear us.

[Clouds Passing]

3. That training of viewing non LE as the enemy started in the late 1980's.

A friend who was in LE said they went to a training and were horrified about this awful change in policy. That us civilians should be deeply concerned. They specifically said hat civilians were to be treated as a threat and not to be trusted by LE. Civilians are the enemy to LE was also stated by my friend.

[xocetaceans]

2. Is there actually physical evidence of the police claiming that it was a self-inflicted gunshot that killed her?

Ben Crump says (at 7:33 in the video), "So, we don't know what the narrative was initially."

If one watches the body cam footage from both deputies, one can see the whole encounter. It seems ridiculous for the police to expect that one could pass the situation off as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

She seems to be shot at 10:40 in video this presentation of the body cam footage and appears to be in the act (from a crouching position while reaching above her head) of attempting to throw the (scalding) pot of water at the deputies. It is observed (roughly) that the water made it all the way to their feet, that the wound is a head wound, and that the chances of surviving that are taken to be small, with or without immediate treatment.

What is the classification of a pot of boiling water in terms of it being a weapon? What is police training on that circumstance? Are the police ever trained to retreat away from danger so as not to have to use force? Further, are police given the right to diagnose (on the spot) whether medical aid should be provided?

The deputies lingered after looking for the prowler. Had they left and not stayed to request identification etc. maybe this would never have happened. If the woman in this case had not repeatedly stated something like "I'll rebuke you in the name of Jesus." or "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus." which could be taken as a threat (while she had a means to attack and did attempt to attack), this might not have happened.

This is a terrible situation. It needs to be thoroughly and carefully investigated both by those in authority over the police and by those who would report on it.

One common thread that this incident has with many other officer-involved-shooting incidents caught on body cam is that the person who is ultimately shot responds aggressively to police and attempts to attack them using some form of weapon.

No allowable legislation in this country will effectively reduce the prevalence of guns to the point that the police will be able to stop carrying guns. How can police training be altered to prevent aggressive (and also seemingly mentally ill) people from attacking police and subsequently being shot and killed by them?