I thought this essay would continue my reflections about unity in American life. Indeed, that essay is nearly done. But then I watched the footage of Sangamon County Sherriff’s Officer Sean Grayson fatally shooting Sonya Massey in her home after she had called 911. In fact, I watched it over and over again because I was so stunned by what I saw.
I watched the entire 36 minutes and 15 seconds released by the Illinois State Police, which conducted the investigation into the shooting. It’s the footage captured by Grayson’s bodycam and the much longer footage captured by his partner, both of which are introduced by some background text about what happened and what the viewer is about to see. Here is a link to the whole 36 minutes. I encourage you to watch it, and to form your own judgments based on the entirety of what you see, not just on 2 or 3 minutes clipped together by the news, and not on what I say here. But here’s my take.
When I watched the whole 36 minutes, I lost track of the number of times Officer Grayson made things worse instead of better, culminating in shots he didn’t need to fire. But to appreciate why this is so, you have to understand the context. Ms. Massey, who was alone in her home, called the police in the middle of the night because she thought she heard a prowler in her yard. We don’t know yet how long it took the police to show up, but Officer Grayson and his partner arrive. At that moment, it is apparent from the tapes that they knew nothing about Ms. Massey. For all they know, she is simply a woman living in a small, single-family home who has called the police for assistance.
What does a responsible society want of the police at that moment? In thinking about this question, divorce yourself from anything else you know or think you know about policing. Try not to respond based on what eventually happened. Just ask yourself a simple question: A woman alone in her house has called the police in the middle of the night because she suspects a prowler is near her home. What should a reasonable society want the police to do?
First, we’d want them to show up and to check the area, which they did. They found nothing amiss. So far, so good.
Some might say the police should just leave at that point, but I strongly disagree. If the police (rather than someone else, such as a community group; that’s for another essay) are going to respond, they should also look for signs of forced entry into the home and confirm whether the resident is ok. After all, if there had been a prowler, it is reasonable to be concerned for the resident’s well-being. At the very least, the officers should reassure the resident that they checked the property and that nothing was amiss.
The officers did that too. And that’s when things began to run off the rails.
At about 5 and ½ minutes into the first video, Officer Grayson knocked on Ms. Massey’s door. All the lights were off and she didn’t answer. Remember, it was the middle of the night and we don’t know how long it had been since she called them. So, he knocked again, a little harder. Still no answer. A few seconds later, he pounded on the door with his closed fist. No answer. He radioed his dispatcher and asked them to call Ms. Massey on the phone and tell her that officers were outside. Before long, Grayson could hear the phone ringing in Ms. Massey’s home and heard her answer. He knocked again, twice.
At some point, Ms. Massey can be heard on tape asking something, perhaps inquiring who is at the door, though her exact words are hard to decipher. Grayson says, “Sheriff’s Office.” Ms. Massey says something like, “OK, hold on.” A few seconds pass and she doesn’t answer the door. By this time, Grayson is visibly impatient and says, “You comin’ to the door or not?” Ms. Massey says something that cannot be heard on the tape. Grayson says, “Alright, hurry up.”
Ms. Massey opens the door wearing nightclothes. She is obviously nervous and frightened. Nearly the first thing she says when she opens the door is, “please don’t hurt me.” She has a cellphone in her hand and appears to be trying to call someone. She may have also said when she opened the door that she needed to call someone. That part of the tape is hard to make out. But there’s no missing Ms. Massey’s fear, which is obvious. It bears observing that Grayson is substantially larger than Ms. Massey.
Grayson answers, “Why would I hurt you, you called us?” She says she heard something outside and steps onto the front porch. And then, without further inquiry into her well-being, Grayson asks whether the car in the driveway is hers; it had a broken front window. Ms. Massey looks down, perhaps at her cellphone, and begins to plead to herself, “please God, please God, please God.”
At that point, and only at that point, Grayson says he and his partner checked the yard and didn’t see or hear anything amiss. At some point, Grayson finally asks whether Ms. Massey is ok. She says yes, and that she has taken her medicine.
That’s it. Job over. At that point, the police have: 1) resolved the concern that prompted their visit; 2) assured the resident that all was well; and 3) assured themselves that the resident was ok. Mission accomplished. Ms. Massey was obviously frightened and upset by the two armed and uniformed officers at her front door in the middle of the night, and there was absolutely no need to continue questioning her. Grayson didn’t need to get her name at that moment; he could’ve gotten that some other time. He didn’t need to admonish her to “hurry up,” and he didn’t need to ask, as he did, why it took her so long to answer the door. It was time to leave this woman alone.
But instead of leaving, the officers followed Ms. Massey’s into her home. Grayson is seen trying to fill out a form and asks Ms. Massey her name. She is obviously flustered and talks about showing them her “papers.” They say they just need her name. She says, “Massey.” Grayson asks her to repeat it, and then, before she can answer, asks instead for her ID.
Then, the video becomes increasingly difficult to watch. She is fumbling for her ID when Grayson’s partner notices a pot of water boiling on the stove. Instead of turning it off themselves, they ask Ms. Massey to turn off the stove. She walks from a couch to the stove, picks up the pot, turns toward Grayson and as she is walking toward him and a kitchen counter, says softly, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” Grayson doesn’t hear her and says, “Huh?” She repeats it, louder but not threateningly. He says, “You better fucking not or I swear to God I’ll fucking shoot you in the fucking face.”
She takes another step, again toward him and the counter, though she does not appear to raise the pot as if to throw it at either officer. Grayson draws his service revolver (rather than his Taser), and hollers for her to “drop the fucking pot.” She cringes, ducks, says, “I’m sorry,” and appears to drop the pot, all while Grayson advances three steps, hollering at her to drop it. As she is cringing, he shoots her multiple times in the head.
Sean Grayson didn’t have to bellow at an innocent woman alone in her own home in the middle of the night to “hurry up” and answer her own door. He didn’t have to follow Ms. Massey into her home. He didn’t have to ask to see her ID instead of just recording her name, which she gave freely. He didn’t have to direct her toward the stove. He didn’t have to close in on her when she picked up a pot of boiling water. He didn’t have to draw his gun. He didn’t have to shoot. He knew she was a single woman, alone in her home, terrified and medicated. He could have just left her front porch once he confirmed that she was ok. I know the police have a hard job, but that doesn’t relieve them of the obligation to do it right.
