Protesters mourning the murder of Sonya Massey at the hands of police in Illinois faced off with cops in Lower Manhattan on Thursday night, resulting in at least one arrest.
Massey, a Black woman, was shot dead inside her own home on July 6 after calling police in Springfield, IL to investigate a possible prowler in her home. Bodycam footage revealed that Illinois Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson pulled the trigger after getting into a dispute over her identification; he was subsequently charged with murder.
Many New Yorkers are still seething over the senseless slaying. Gathering in Washington Square Park on Thursday night, time almost seemed to rewind to 2020, when the streets were filled with fury over the police killing of George Floyd.
A large crowd assembled under the park’s famous arch just after 7 p.m. where, in both anger and sorrow, they held signs inscribed with some of Massey’s last words: “I rebuke you.”
Although the country has had a disturbing history of police officers gunning down people of color, many are calling this incident one of the worst they have ever seen.
“She ducked down, she apologized, he didn’t have to shoot her,” protest organizer Terrell Harper, also known as Relly Rebel said. “You have to care about people, these guys don’t care about nothing.”
For over an hour, speakers of color lamented that they have, for years, found themselves back on the streets protesting one lost life after another.
“This is my 10th year of marching, and sh*t has not been done. My people are still dying. I still had to watch videos of them being shot in the head, being brutally murdered,” Nora of Black Unity for Solidarity said.
The NYPD told protesters to get to the sidewalk or face arrest. Marchers flirted with danger by stepping in and out of the roadway and cursing at officers. Cops pulled one person from the crowd and cuffed them for unclear reasons, resulting in a shoving match between police and protesters.
Undeterred, the crowd continued marching until they concluded in Times Square. More protests are expected in the coming days.
