Biden calls for justice after footage released of police killing Black woman
Biden calls for justice after footage released of police killing Black woman
Lawmakers ‘must pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act now’, Biden says, amid shock over Sonya Massey death
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
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.
Why even say this victim blaming bullshit? Yes, I read the rest of your comment, I just don't know why you felt the need to preface it by blaming an innocent dead woman for getting shot by the cop she called for help.
I shouldn't even need to say any of this, but she could have been cursing them off the moment they arrived for all I care. That's literally her constitutional right. And if it were a white woman, and she was cursing them from the moment they arrived, she'd still be alive right now 100%. Perhaps detained or arrested, and/or maybe a few bruises. But alive.
This country is going to need to have a reckoning. We failed Reconstruction, and in retrospect we probably should have let Sherman burn the South to the ground after the war, and now the chickens are coming to roost.
(Yes I know this was in Illinois. The legacy of slavery is everywhere).
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.
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.
Turning your body camera off deliberately or knowingly failing to maintain it to keep it running should automatically cause the cop to be treated as a an unreliable witness and as a suspect for any potential crime happening
Turning your body camera off should be a crime that results in prison time.
Should be evidence of 1st degree murder.
There shouldn't even be a fucking power button on those things. It should just be ON ALL THE GODDAMN TIME from the picosecond a pig's shift starts. Zero exceptions. If it gets shut off, you get one warning, happens again gtfo and we pull your pig license. If it happens and you're involved in a police activity that results in injury or death, fucking fired and arrested pending full investigation AND we pull your pig license even if it's your first fuckup.
Not only an unreliable witness, but ineligible for the immunity from the law that (for whatever godforsaken reason) comes with the badge and gun. They should be treated as a civilian from the instant they turn their body cam off.
Well duh, what to you expect to happen to a black woman who wastes police time?
This is what they train for.
ACAB
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.
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.
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?
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.”
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.
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.
... 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
Conservatives have been backing the cop, as expected, and trying to make her seem like a dangerous criminal
But she picked up the pot... so she was just following orders! Conservatives love people who were just following orders!
Yea, it's fucking ridiculous. Hopefully it turns voters off Trump and we can get actual legislation in place to enforce body cam usage.
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
Make police officers individually responsible for carrying insurance for their job.
If they can't behave then they won't be able to afford the insurance as the insurance company will raise the fees, and then they can't get a job they shouldn't be doing in the first place
we need to incept this into the minds of insurance heads, they'll jump on the money.
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.
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.
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!
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.”
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?
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.
My assessment of a typical police officer is that it is someone that:
- is overwhelmed with their job
- deals with annoying frequent offenders repeatedly
- their interactions with people are when the people are committing crimes
- feels that their lives are constantly in danger
- believes that their jobs are handicapped by policies that protect citizens at the officer's expense
- sees that a considerable portion of the community hates them despite regularly placing their lives in lethal danger
- their main training is to control and overpower everyone using lethal force
- uses concrete/black-or-white thinking
Because of this victim mentality, they have created a strong cultural value of protecting their own. In their minds, it's good guys (police) vs bad guys (citizens). This results in an authoritative approach with the main tactic being lethal violence and protecting each other from the consequences of the policies that handicap them. The last thing I would want is to be around a police officer that is triggered into fight-or-flight mode. At that time, everyone becomes enemy and they are the law.
I have been in life or death situations as the person that has to maintain control, so I have an idea of what it is like to be in a police officer's position. The main ideas that I consider are that (1) I have no idea who will be dangerous until they become dangerous, and (2) I am ultimately responsible. As such, when I interact with police, I take that into account. When I get pulled over, I have a system. While pulling over, I am already pulling out my wallet and placing it on the dash. Once I'm pulled over, I take the keys and place them on the dash as well. I open all of the windows and sunroof, place my hands on the steering wheel at 10 & 2, and wait for them to approach the car. If I have any weapons in the car, I tell them what and where they are as they arrive to the vehicle1. I then only conduct behaviors they ask of me and announce what and how I plan on doing. For example, if they ask me for my registration, I tell them that it is in the glove compartment and ask them if it is okay that I go in there to get it. When they give permission, I do that slowlyyyy making sure that they can see everything that is in my hands at all times. I absolutely give no attitude whatsoever. Btw, my car has a a front- and rear- view dash cam recording, so I have my own evidence.
I'm not saying cops are awesome and we should kiss their asses, but I'm also trying to be compassionate for their position given the situation we are all in during those interactions. Like I said, the last thing I want to do is trigger a cop into fight-or-flight mode. Unless someone is in serious physical danger, it is not the time to stand up for your rights using any form of aggression, verbal or physical. Stay quiet, only answer if you have to (e.g. what's your name?), do not admit to violating any laws whatsoever, and comply with legal orders. If they violate any of your rights, there's a chance they gave you a get out of jail free card. For example, if you clearly told them not to come into your house and they do anyway, then any evidence they get cannot be used against you. Make sure you have your own cameras recording! On the other hand, if you try to physically prevent them from doing something, you're fucked whether you were in the right or not.
Regarding the murder of this lady
She was innocent as fuck. There was no need to even have the firearm out even when she had the pot of boiling water. He could have easily dodged it from that far way. If anything, he could have used a taser or stepped back. Still, do what you can to stay alive in those situations. If you are mentally present with a cop in your house, do not give them any reason whatsoever to fear you anymore than they already do. Whether you were in the right or not, you can't fight for police reform when your already dead.
Also, while I'm ragging on them, they had terrible muzzle awareness. The murdering cop stepped in front of the other cop's muzzle several times, while the other cop didn't point their firearm elsewhere when that happened. WTF.
1: I have been pulled over several times while carrying a firearm in the vehicle. In all cases, what they did was get the firearm, unload the magazine, and clear the chamber. They were super chill about it.
I'm not from the US, but that sounds like bad advice.
There is no bad situation that police can't make worse.
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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:
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?
Thanks for posting I enjoyed watching that
Yea...that cop is getting life in prison. There's no defense for that.
This cop bounced between MULTIPLE police departments.
The core is fucking rotten. Prison is like slapping a bandaid on cancer.
There’s no defense for that.
Not even Qualified Immunity?
Qualified Immunity protects against civil suit, not criminal charges.
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.
Bro, you run the justice department do something about it.
Do an official act about it.
Why he gotta get all political now 😭😢
Nothing to lose.
Fire away fire away 🎵🎶
I am titaaa-neee-um!
they are messing around with this
Biden made police reform part of his campaign promise
That's rich coming from a guy who just hosted a genocidal, racist fascist at our capitol. Fuck Genocide Joe and his psuedo-concern about human rights.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-fund-the-police-biden-says-at-state-of-the-union
How quick will mainstream Dems forget about police reform after THIS election? It was already a weak point for Harris.
Everything we saw in 2020 and no (AFAICT) meaningful change.
The Republican candidate is a real policing iconoclast
Harris was a cop herself so don't expect anything to change.Edit: My dumbass was misinformed. Harris was never an actual cop.
Stop saying "cop" when you mean "prosecutor". They're not remotely the same thing.
She was not a cop. She was a prosecutor. Are you calling her a bad person for having been a prosecutor? Should no one do that job? Should crimes be tolerated, not prosecuted?
Who's going to prosecute this murderer we're talking about here in this thread? I watched the trial of the cop who killed George Floyd. The prosecutors were fantastic. They obviously cared deeply about what they were doing. That's why they chose the job. To hold people who hurt innocent people accountable.
I can't wait for Americans to stop talking about race like it matters...
Look, I agree with you in regular situations. I am frequently frustrated that racism is perpetuated by those claiming to abhor it.
However, you cannot credibly claim that race did not matter in this example.
Leading by example for the next generation by never making race an issue yourself is noble. Refusing to acknowledge naked racism when you encounter it is wrong.
This is the same kind of argument as violence really. Take a lesson from martial arts tradition. Never be try one to bring violence. However, knowing how to defend the weak when violence comes to them is something else.
You read this story and splurted out that sentence?
I watched the footage.
Her race is irrelevant to the what went down... Obviously.
I legitimately forgot that he was still president lol
The ultimate lame duck
Asking who the president is is a way we assess for a traumatic brain injury. Bragging that you don't know who's president is an interesting take.
If asked, I definitely would have gotten it right lol
What I meant to be commenting on, and I'm sorry this wasn't clear, was that the news has been so focused on the campaign for so long, and for the past few days on Harris of course, that when I saw this headline, my immediate reaction was, "Why do we still care? He already withdrew."
And then, instantly, "Oh, because he's still the president. Right. Duh. Lmao," which was what my comment was supposed to convey. Hopefully that makes sense now
Unless they are running for office, you should only be hearing about the president if something important is happening. Just because Trump turned the office into a federal reality show doesn't make that the norm.