Newark Shuts Down Major Intersection for Sonya Massey in Newark
Has A Long Way To Go on Police Reform
by Zayid Muhammad
Sunday, July 28th, saw several hundred people in Newark brave the July heat and shut down a major intersection to condemn the police killing of 36 year old single mother Sonya Massey, who was shot in the face and head by a Springfield, Illinois deputy sheriff on July 6th in a horrific incident captured on videotape that has outraged people all over the country!
She was 36.
The gathering was one of at least 35 cities who united to make July 28th, a National Day of Mourning.
Participants marched from the Lincoln Monument to downtown Newark where they shut down the intersection of Broad and Market Street for at least an hour!
The gathering was organized by the People’s Organization for Progress, All Politics R Local radio, the Newark chapter of African Study of Classical African Civilization, Newark Communities of Accountable Policing and the Newark AntiViolence Coalition (NAVC).
The shutting down of the street was reminiscent of the historic protests against gun violence that NAVC did several years ago when they shut down the streets of Newark for 155 consecutive weeks.
Massey’s killing was captured on videotape in horrific detail. It also captured the officer who shot her, denying any efforts of medical aid. In the aftermath, the police would not even tell her family that she was killed in an ‘officer involved’ shooting, The officer who killed Massey also had a terrible track record long before this tragic event. Although he is being charged, activists from around the country are condemning the action as a horrible example of how the inability of the police to hold their ranks accountable leads to tragedies like these.
Although the officer who actually killed Massey, Sean Grayson, has been taken into custody and is being charged, organizers said that Massey’s killing was symptomatic of the incapacity of the police to police themselves all over the country.
Lawrence Hamm, chair of the People’s Organization for Progress and recent candidate for the US Senate, said that the incident is “like Derek Chauvin killing George Floyd all over again.”
He went further:
“Since George Floyd, there have been more police involved killings in the United States in the modern era.”
Denise Davis, the aunt of Andrew Washington who was killed in a mental health crisis by Jersey City police last August said this:
“Police officers have to be trained to assess situations carefully allowing for more measured and collaborative responses.”
Zayid Muhammad, organizer for Newark Communities for Accountable Policing, agreed and added:
“Carl Dorsey being senselessly killed by officer Rod Simpkins of the Newark police, who also had a clear track record of abuse, is our Sonya Massey.
“What should happen next are two things. One make this an election issue in this election cycle.
“Do we realize that John Lewis and Sheila Jackson Lee went to their graves championing the George Floyd Bill, a bill that could have prevented the hire of a disaster like Sean Grayson based on his record.
“We have to make that happen.
“The other is to launch a fresh campaign here in Jersey for the CCRB Bill in its strongest form and to demand the full implementation of the Seabrooks Washington bill.
Ironically, on the heels of this action, an unidentified Fort Lee woman was shot to death in a mental health crisis by Fort Lee police officers.
“Law enforcement is being conspicuously quiet about this case, when instead we need to be addressing it as another reason why Seabrooks Washington and all other mental health crisis options need to be fully built out now,” Muhammad observed.
Until Freedom, who played a key role in mobilizing the community around the police killing of Breonna Taylor. made the call for the ‘national day of Mourning.’ Among the other cities who also hosted actions were Atlanta, Houston, New York, Charlotte, Norfolk, Los Angeles among others...
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