Sonya Massey was a 36-year-old black woman who was killed by a white police officer in July. Massey is just one of many people of color who was a victim of police brutality. So many people have been killed because of the color of their skin, and Massey just happens to be one of the most recent ones.
It was a late night on July 22 when Massey originally called the police for help, not thinking her life could be in danger or even taken away because she called for help.
After the responding officers entered Massey’s house, she was being threatened by officer Sean Grayson and videos show that she went to go get her pot off the stove. Grayson felt as if she was going to throw the pot of boiling hot water at him, so he shot her.
Massey went over to her boiling pot of water and asked where the two officers were going, and she showed signs of paranoia. She started to be alarmed when Grayson started yelling at her to step away from the pot, and she was startled and told him, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” which led to Grayson putting his hand on his gun.
He warned Sonya he was going to shoot her, and before she could do anything she was shot and killed. It was not until after the shooting did he turn on his own body camera.
This is a tragic event that has an impact on everyone but especially everyone who is African American, especially since this is not the first time someone has been killed for no reason. There have been many like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Emmett Till and Elijah McClain. However, these are not the only ones, which is the sad part. I am not the only one that feels sad and angry about how and why Massey died. It is devastating that African Americans have to live in fear every day that the cops are going to kill them because these white cops fear the melanin in their skin. It’s a shame when we have to live in a world that is so blind to see what these officers are doing to anyone that has a darker shade than anyone else.
There have been multiple occasions where people have gone on a riot or started a protest because of another black person dying for no reason. When is it going to end? Situations like this have been going on for years, and it hasn’t stopped. These officers don’t care how old a person is. Aderrien Murry was 11 years old when he was shot and killed in his own home. Trayvon Martin was killed on the street at 17 and was killed because he was reaching for Skittles. On June 12, 1945, Niecey Brown was beaten on by a police officer who was off-duty. She was 74 when she died. It doesn't just stop there, the list goes on and on. People are getting tired of their family members dying for no reason or another person in the community getting killed because of the color of their skin.
Things like this shouldn’t happen, but since it is happening it needs to be discussed. Sonya Massey is just one of many people who have been killed by someone who is in a higher position of power than her. It's getting exhausting having to talk about the same situation, with different people and different storyline, but the same outcome over and over again. This is what makes it so important because this hasn’t been the first time, and no one seems to realize there hasn’t been any change in the police system or change in the society at all. The world is filled with hate, and we need to fix that, or situations like Sonya Massey are going to continue to happen, which would have an effect on all of us, not just a certain group of people.