Trump pressed on calls for police 'immunity from prosecution' after Sonya Massey killing
Journalists pressed former President Donald Trump on his support for qualified immunity for police officers during an appearance in Chicago after the murder of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old black woman shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy in her Illinois home earlier this month.
Trump answered questions during a Wednesday discussion organized by the National Association of Black Journalists. Kadia Goba of Semafor, a news outlet founded by former BuzzFeed News editor-in-chief Ben Smith, asked the Republican presidential nominee if he believed the deputy who shot Massey should receive immunity.
Former Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson shot Massey on July 6 after responding to a call from the woman about a prowler in the area. After body-camera footage of the encounter was shared online, Grayson was charged on July 17 with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.
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The shooting occurred not long after Trump vowed during a May rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin, that, if elected president, his administration would "give our police their power back" and ensure they have "immunity from prosecution."
In response to Goba's question, Trump replied that he didn't know the full details of the case, stating that he "saw something, and it didn't look good."
When Goba pressed again about whether officers should receive immunity, Trump explained that he did not mean that officers like Grayson should receive immunity.
He went on to cite Chicago crime statistics as an example of why certain police need immunity, highlighting the dangers associated with the job that can force officers to have to make a quick decision that may result in a fatal shooting.
"I'm talking about people that are much different cases, and that we need police to protect ourselves," he said, pointing to the series of shootings that took place throughout Chicago over Fourth of July weekend, where 19 people were killed and over 100 shot in over 74 shooting incidents.
The youngest victim, 8-year-old Bryson Orr, was killed in a shooting in the Grand Crossing neighborhood on the morning of July 4, NBC News reports.
The number of shootings over the July 4 weekend this year surpassed last year's numbers. In 2023, 11 people were killed over the holiday weekend and 62 were injured, the outlet notes.
"Nobody wants that. We need to have our police officers have the respect and dignity back. In this particular case, I saw something that didn't look good," Trump said on Wednesday. "I didn't like it at all."
Trump said that for the most part, people are protected by their police unions or their police departments.
"There's a big difference between being a bad person and making an innocent mistake," he added. "If someone made an innocent mistake, I would want to help that person."
"Sometimes you have less than a second to make a life and death decision, and sometimes very bad decisions are made," he continued. "They're not made from an evil standpoint, but they're made from the standpoint of 'they've made a mistake.'"
During an interview shortly after the Massey shooting, the woman's father, James Wilburn, told CBS Mornings that he believes his daughter "feared for her life."
"There was something, some premonition that she had, and it seems like [Grayson] was just an emissary of Satan. And that's what caused him to do what he did. It's just unexplainable," Wilburn said.
Family members of Massey told CBS Evening News after the shooting that Massey had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia days before the incident.
In video footage of the shooting, Massey appears agitated, and she told the two deputies who responded to her 911 when they arrived, "Please don't hurt me." At one point, Massey walked over to a boiling pot of water after Grayson requested that she check on it. As the woman removed the pot, the deputies backed away and ordered her to move away from the boiling pot.
"Oh, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus," Massey is heard saying in the video. "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus."
"You better f— not, or I swear to God I'll f— shoot you in the f— face," Grayson told her.
Massey, who appears in the video to be holding the pot next to her running faucet in her sink, can be seen taking her hands off the pot while still holding what looks like mittens in her hand. The woman placed her hands over her ears, and Grayson advanced toward her with his gun drawn, shouting "drop the f— pot" and firing several shots.
The officer later stated in the video that he had shot the woman in the head and implied that he did not see the need to provide her medical attention, arguing that Massey was likely dead anyway.
In a statement, Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell called the shooting "unjustifiable and reckless."
"Sonya Massey lost her life due to an unjustifiable and reckless decision by former Deputy Sean Grayson," Campbell said.
"Grayson had other options available that he should have used. His actions were inexcusable and do not reflect the values or training of our office. He will now face judgment by the criminal justice system and will never again work in law enforcement. Ms. Massey needlessly lost her life, and her family deserves answers. I trust the legal process will provide them."
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
