Justice for Sonya Massey! Sonya Massey needed help. Instead, a police officer killed her.

Justice for Sonya Massey!

On July 6th, Sonya Massey called the Sangamon County Police Department in fear of a suspected prowler outside her home. Instead of safety and protection, Sonya faced intimidation, fear, and death at the hands of the police.

Sonya was dealing with a suspected mental health crisis during the interaction with police, and instead of providing mental health care, police became increasingly agitated and aggressive to the point that Deputy Sean Grayson fatally shot her three times.

James Wilburn, the father of Sonya Massey, has come forward to reveal that the Sangamon County Police Department hid the fact that Deputy Grayson committed the murder for several days after the incident. MomsRising stands with Mr. Willburn and his demand for the firing and removal of Sangamon County Police Sheriff James Campbell.

MomsRising supports the following statement released by Color of Change:

“Color Of Change mourns Sonya Massey and we send our heartfelt condolences to the Massey family. The video released today is gut-wrenching and once again shows that Black people in this country cannot escape police violence, even in their own homes. It is also a stark reminder of the urgent need to address police brutality and misconduct. The actions of Sean Grayson are disgraceful and inhumane, and reflect a blatant disregard for the safety and well-being of the community. His actions are an alarming reminder of how police so often disregard Black lives” [1]

Sign our petition to tell Congress to advance real community safety through the People’s Response Campaign!

REFERENCES:
[1] COLOR OF CHANGE DEMANDS JUSTICE FOR SONYA MASSEY FOLLOWING RELEASE OF DISTURBING POLICE VIDEO

Dear Congress,

Sonya Massey was a mother. Her life was unjustly taken at the hands of the Sangamon County Police and her story deserves justice. Bodycam footage shows that Sonya was experiencing a mental health crisis and should have been treated as such instead of as a hostile criminal. Deputies failed to properly respond to the moment and killed an innocent woman who looked to the police for protection and safety.

The firing and criminal prosecution of Deputy Sean Grayson is a start but not the end of addressing the systemic and structural racism within policing.

We are counting on you to ensure justice for Sonya Massey and her family.

MomsRising stands with James Willburn, the father of Sonya Massey, and his demands for the immediate firing and removal of Sangamon Police Sheriff Jack Campbell.

Systemic police brutality cannot end until officials like yourself take the time to properly address these issues and pass policies to prevent such tragedies, like the one of Massey, from happening again.

The current approach to public safety is not working for children, families, and particularly for Black and brown communities that have been devastated by mental health crises, substance use health crises, and criminalization. We must reimagine our public safety system’s instinct to criminalize and replace it with an instinct to be thoughtful, strategic, and rooted in providing appropriate care and response.

We have an important opportunity to do that with the introduction of the The People’s Response Act. This important piece of legislation emphasizes an inclusive, holistic, and health-centered approach to public safety by creating a public safety division within the Department of Human Health and Services. Communities and experts agree that public safety is a matter of public health. When we adopt new evidence-based approaches to public safety that are equitable, health-centered, and preventative in efforts to stop violence and harm before it occurs, we subsequently ensure that responses to crises in the community are appropriate and that every community has what they need to flourish.

The People’s Response Act takes works to achieve this by:

Creating a new public safety division within the Department of Health and Human Services to fund and coordinate research, technical assistance, and grant programs related to non-carceral, health-centered investments in public safety;
Launching a federal first responders unit that will support states and local governments with emergency health crises;
Research alternative approaches to public safety, including coordination of research and policies that are being implemented across HHS and other agencies to center health-based and non-carceral responses throughout the federal government;
Providing $11 billion in grant funding to state and local governments, as well as community-based organizations, to fully fund public safety and improve crisis response;
Establishing a $2.5 billion First Responder Hiring Grant to create thousands of jobs and provide funding to state, local, and tribal government, as well as community organizations, to hire emergency first responders such as licensed social workers, mental health counselors, substance use counselors, and peer support specialists, in an effort to improve crisis response and increase non-carceral, health-based approaches to public safety.

Sincerely,

Contact Information

Name*

Email address*

ZIP Code*

Get text message alerts (Standard text message charges may apply)

Mobile Phone*

Privacy Policy (the basics): We do not share the information you've given us with unaffiliated groups without your explicit permission. For petitions, letters to the editor, and surveys you've signed or completed, we treat your name, city, state, and comments as public information. We will not make your street address publicly available, but we may transmit it to members of Congress, the President, or other targets specifically noted on the signup page. We will send you updates on this and other important campaigns by email. If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from our email list, you may do so. For our complete privacy policy, click here.