This is just so very sad.
Source: Source: Wikipedia / Wikipedia / Source: Wikipedia / Wikipedia
Police body camera footage shows that on the fateful night of July 6, when two Sangamon County sheriff’s deputies showed up at Sonya Massey’s door, the first thing Massey said to the officers was, “Don’t hurt me.” The deputies responded by assuring Massey that they would not hurt her and implied it was erroneous that she would assume otherwise since she was the one who called them. Not half an hour later, Massey was shot dead by now-former Deputy Sean Grayson, who is now facing multiple charges including three counts of first-degree murder.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that Massey isn’t the only one who appeared to be having premonitions about brutal police officers harming or fatally killing a Black person who called them for help. In fact, the day before Massey was shot, her mother, Donna Massey, called 911 to report her daughter experiencing a “mental breakdown.” During that call, Donna also immediately requested that whoever was sent to her daughter’s home not do her any harm, according to newly released 911 recordings.
“I don’t want you guys to hurt her, please,” Donna told 911 dispatch around 9 a.m. on July 5, according to the Washington Post.
The 911 operator responded to Donna the same way Grayson and his partner responded to Massey when she expressed her concerns that she might become a police brutality victim shortly before she became a police brutality victim they dismissed her her concerns and insisted there was no logical reason to fear the cops might do harm.
From the Post:
When the dispatcher told her help was on the way to her daughter’s Springfield, Ill., home, she replied: “Thank you, and please don’t send no combative policemen that are prejudiced — please.”
“They just do their job, okay?” the dispatcher responded.
“They’re scary. I’m scared of the police,” Donna Massey said.
He replied, “There’s nothing to be fearful of, ma’am.”
Roughly 16 hours later, the cops came to “do their job” and Massey was shot and killed as a result.
Source: Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department / Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department
Now, the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office—and by extension, all police agencies across America—should be tasked with reckoning with the fact that Massey saw her death coming.
Her mother saw it coming.
Black America is constantly being gaslighted by “back the blue” boot-lickers who love telling us that if we comply, we’ll be fine. Every day, Black people are told that our innate fear of police officers is ridiculous and they can’t conceive of the possibility that Black people might run from the cops, not because they’re guilty, but because they’re afraid of being killed.
They keep telling us our fear is unfounded, and cops keep proving to us that the opposite is true.
