‘Listening session’ held Monday in Springfield about the police-action shooting death of Sonya Massey

Posted on July 30, 2024
Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell (white shirt) responded to repeated calls for his resignation Monday night, after one of his deputies shot and killed a Black woman – Sonya Massey of Springfield – in her home this month. The deputy, now fired, faces murder charges and is jailed. (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell responded to repeated calls for his resignation Monday night – because one of his deputies killed a Black woman in a shooting ruled unjustified – by saying his stepping down would solve nothing.

Campbell spoke as part of a “listening session” put on at a Springfield church by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Springfield NAACP.

Deputy Sean Grayson, since fired, jailed, and indicted for murder, shot Sonya Massey of Springfield in the face as she was moving a pot of hot water. Grayson and another deputy responded to Massey’s 9-1-1 call about a possible prowler July 6.

The listening session devolved into chaos after about an hour and a half, with attendees claiming it would have no effect on anything. Shortly before the event ended, one man called out the pastor of the church hosting the session, saying his church has done nothing for Black people.

The Massey family and its attorney, noted civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, are scheduled to hold a news conference and rally Tuesday evening in Chicago to respond to a police labor organization’s call for Grayson to be reinstated with back pay. Also scheduled to participate: Rev. Al Sharpton.

WJBC News can be reached at [email protected]

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