CHICAGO (WLS) — It has been three weeks since Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, was fatally shot in her Illinois home by a now-fired sheriff’s deputy charged in her death.
The video in the player above is from a previous report.
Demonstrators rallied on Saturday in Chicago, demanding Congress to take action on police reform.
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Cries for police reform spilled out of Federal Plaza in downtown.
“At any moment before Sonya was shot, he could’ve intervened against the real threat, Officer Grayson,” one demonstrator said.
Dozens gathered for a “Justice for Sonya Massey” rally after the mother of two was shot and killed by a downstate deputy earlier this month.
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Demonstrators demanded Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a bill that aims to combat police misconduct, excessive force and racial bias in law enforcement.
“We’re just out here trying to hear the voices of the community, so we can push back to stop the killings,” Black Lives Matter Chicago organizer Troy Gaston said.
“Police crimes is a longstanding issue in the Black community, and this is a really egregious manifestation of that,” said Faayani Aboma Mijana with the Chicago Alliance Against Racism & Political Oppression.
He needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Raymond Massey, Sonya Massey’s uncle
Bodycam video showed deputies at Massey’s Springfield home earlier this month after she called to report a possible intruder.
Deputy Sean Grayson shot the 36-year-old woman after yelling at her to put down a pot of boiling water. He was arrested and charged with her murder.
Calls for accountability were heard during a march through the streets of Chicago, three weeks since Massey’s death, which has been ruled a homicide. Her family is left devastated, but they have with the same demands.
“He needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” the victim’s uncle, Raymond Massey, said.
Grayson has pleaded not guilty and is being held in custody until trial.
READ MORE | Ex-deputy who fatally shot Sonya Massey was discharged from the Army for serious misconduct
Despite being fired, the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police is now seeking his reinstatement to the police force.
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