She called the authorities and ended up shot dead.
Police in Illinois have released body camera footage of one of their officers shooting a black woman who had called 911 to report an alleged intruder in her home.
Sonya Massey, 36, passed away over Independence Day weekend.
The incident led to criminal charges against one of the officers who arrived at his residence.
President Joe Biden condemned the incident on Tuesday.
“Sonya’s death at the hands of an officer reminds us that, too often, Black Americans fear for their safety in ways that many of us do not fear,” Biden said in a statement.
Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson has been fired from the police force and charged with murder and misconduct after the incident.
Grayson, who has been held without bail since Monday, has pleaded not guilty.
How the events unfolded
Illinois State Police body camera footage released Monday shows officers yelling at Massey while pointing their guns at him, demanding that he leave a pot of boiling water that he had in his hands.
The incident occurred in the early hours of July 6, after Massey called police to her home in Springfield, 200 miles south of Chicago, to report that believed someone had entered his property.
The officers escorted the woman into her home while she searched for her identification.
In the video, Officer Grayson looks at a pot on the fire, gestures toward it and says: “We don’t need fire while we’re here.”
In response, the woman walks to the stove to remove the pot.
Massey and Agent Grayson appear to laugh before she says twice: “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus”.
“Huh?” the agent replies.
“I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” she repeats.
“You better not do that or I swear to God I’ll shoot you in the [grosería] “face,” Grayson says amid the insults.
He then pulls out his gun while ordering the woman to drop the pot.
“Okay, I’m sorry,” Massey is heard saying before crouching down.
“Let go of the [grosería] “Pot!” both agents shout, until three shots are heard.
“I will not receive boiling water [grosería] to the face [grosería]“,” the officer says after shooting him.
The video also records Grayson telling his fellow officer that the injured woman would not need medical help.
While the other agent tries to get a kit doctor, the officer tells him: “She is finished [muerta]. You can go for it, but that’s a headshot.”
Grayson then goes outside to get his own medical kit, after the other officer tells him that they can at least try to stop the woman’s bleeding.
The reactions
The Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office said Monday that Grayson’s use of force was not justified.
In his statement, President Biden said he had “the broken heart” for the victim’s family. “Sonya Massey, a beloved mother, friend, daughter and young black woman, should be alive today,” she wrote.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul called the footage of the shooting “horrible”also in a statement.
“As the community reacts to the release of the images, I urge calm as this matter makes its way through the criminal justice system,” Raoul added.
Lawyers for Massey’s family have praised prosecutors for their swift action against the defendant.
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