A newly released video of the fatal police shooting of a Black woman in Illinois who had called 911 for help is reigniting the push for police reform. The effort has taken a back seat over the past two years. However, the shooting of Sonya Massey and the 10th anniversary of Eric Garner and Michael Brown's deaths are bringing it back into focus, Axios reports. Prosecutors say Massey, 36, was killed in her home July 6. Authorities say she had called 911 to report a suspected prowler, and Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson, who is white, and another deputy arrived at her home to search the area. Video footage shows Grayson following Massey inside she removes a pot of hot water from the stove before Grayson demands that she drop the water. She apologizes and ducks before Grayson shoots her three times, including once in the head. He then discourages the other deputy from using a medical kit to save her.
Though there have been other recent police shootings, none has drawn as much national attention as Massey's. After she announced her presidential bid on Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris invoked the case and urged Congress to pass the stalled George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a bill she coauthored while in the Senate. "Sonya Massey deserved to be safe. After she called the police for help, she was tragically killed in her own home at the hands of a responding officer sworn to protect and serve," she said. The momentum for major bipartisan police reform after the 2020 murder of George Floyd had stalled by late 2021 amid partisan bickering between progressives and moderate Republicans. Conservative backlash grew as proposals to stem systemic racism were deemed "woke" or anti-police. By the time the GOP recaptured the House in 2023, federal police reform was all but dead. Various states did pass laws restricting qualified immunity for police and requiring officers to wear body cams, but many fell short of the demands that emerged from the 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
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