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Grayson’s ludicrous defense

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A former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy charged with murder said he thought Sonya Massey was going throw boiling liquid on him and his partner on July 6 when they responded to Massey’s home for a possible prowler.

In his report, released by Sangamon County on Monday, Sean P. Grayson admitted that when Massey twice says “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” that “I interpreted this to mean she was going to kill me.” […]

The report was written on July 9, three days after the shooting.

Grayson had requested, and was given permission to review bodycam footage of the call.

Ugh.

* Here’s a video clip that covers the half minute before the shooting. Massey says what she says in an almost humorous manner. Even though I stop the video before the shooting, it’s still very difficult and traumatic to watch. There’s also profanity, so keep that in mind if you’re at work…

When she says “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” Grayson says “You better f-ing not or I swear to God I’ll f-ing shoot you right in your f-ing face.” And then he pulled his gun, she apologized, went to the floor and he shot her right in the face.

Evil.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:19 pm

Comments

I think you want to fix your headline. Not Massey, but Grayson.

Comment by pawn Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:26 pm
Of course that’s his defense and yes it’s ludicrous to anyone who watched the video. The distance between the deputy from her was too great to be seriously burned. He also had room to move.

Comment by Norseman Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:26 pm
Murder most foul.

Comment by Dotnonymous x Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:33 pm
Evil is Jack Campbell putting out yard signs asking for support when Sonya Massey’s family has requested his resignation. A new low for the Sangamon County Republicans.

Comment by FIREDup! Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:33 pm
With this overwhelming evidence, his best hope is to get the same sentence that Jason Van Dyke got.

Comment by Proud Papa Bear Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:39 pm
===I think you want to fix===

Man that was dumb. Fixed. Many thanks.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:40 pm
Anybody gonna call Springfield police tonight…for help?…Yeah, me neither.

Comment by Dotnonymous x Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:42 pm
Shot her while she was on the floor and unarmed. Not even a butter knife.

That is all I needed to know. Video confirms.

Comment by JS Mill Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:45 pm
Campbell needs to step down … there should not even be any discussion and there sure as hell shouldn’t be any circling of the wagons around him by the county GOP. He owns this and every minute he stays in office is a slap in the face to the family of Sonya Massey.

Comment by Neef Jr. Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:49 pm
Ms. Massey had already nearly emptied the water into the sink…listen.

Comment by Dotnonymous x Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:49 pm
I have zero hope that any of this can be reformed. If his partner’s camera had been off every single cop union in the state would be calling Grayson a hero/victim in the spare moments they’d be taking a break from slandering Sandra Massey’s name.

Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:52 pm
Even without all his prior issues, why is someone who has a colostomy bag and is undergoing treatments for colon cancer going out on patrol and not either riding a desk or on sick leave?

Comment by Notorious JMB Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:52 pm
==Evil is Jack Campbell putting out yard signs asking for support when Sonya Massey’s family has requested his resignation. A new low for the Sangamon County Republicans.==

Amen. Where’s the outrage and calls for resignation from Doris Turner, Sue Scherer, the other silent democratic county board members, Bill Houlihan, Senators Durbin and Duckworth.

It’s so obvious Campbell has no business running a department he himself says “failed everyone”.

Comment by don the legend Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:54 pm
The Sangamon County GOP good ole boy network will protect him. The won’t be able shield Campbell from what is going be massive settlement. The good ole boy GOP county board might have to might have to raise taxes to cover this.

Comment by Give Me A Break Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:59 pm
There’s an error on that sheriff’s website. It says this: “We will maintain a moral and ethical standard that accepts nothing less than the highest level of integrity.” Tried calling them to point it out but they don’t answer the phone.

Comment by Steve Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 4:07 pm
Sonya, flatly and calmly: I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.

Grayson, with aggression: You better F not or I’ll shoot you in the F face!

Is it asking too much for police to speak to people with dignity and respect? How sad that those were the last words she ever heard in her life. Vile.

Comment by Politix Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 4:09 pm
Point of order: the camera view in this clip is from Grayson‘s partner. The first person view from Grayson‘s actual camera is even more telling. What you see in Grayson’s camera is, the pot is emptied or near empty and Massey has turned it into a shield she is cowering behind as Grayson brandishes hi weapon and threatens her. It’s just a few frames, but it’s clear she’s not attacking.

Some people undergoing cancer therapy experience what is colloquially called “chemo fog”, but if Grayson was affected by chemo he should have been riding a desk or home on medical leave. It can’t excuse him for his random violence nor his command, for putting a walking human bomb on patrol.

Comment by Give Us Barabbas Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 4:10 pm
If the county board doesn’t force Campbell out, it should start shopping for insurance policies. The history of litigation involving the sheriff’s office and what it’s cost taxpayers isn’t pretty, and Campbell, every time until now, has defended indefensible conduct.

The county board got rid of an incompetent coroner a few years back by threatening to eliminate her office if she didn’t resign. Perhaps it’s time to do the same thing with the sheriff. I haven’t heard a single person defend him. There’s no way to defend him–anyone who hired Grayson given his record isn’t qualified to manage anything, let alone cops with guns.

If they’re smart, the political types already have sat him down and ’splained it: You’re toast. We’ll find something for you to do, but staying where you are isn’t an option.

Comment by Jack Must Go Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 4:42 pm
- it’s clear she’s not attacking. -

The other officer should have arrested Graysonon the spot. He needs to be fired along with Campbell.

Comment by Excitable Boy Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 4:42 pm
Evil sums it up well. It is hard say anything about it because Grayson so clearly had no concern for human life. Evil and depravity.

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 4:44 pm
From the beginning I saw that the statement is what seemed to be the cause of his flash of anger that led to the shooting. I think he lost his temper and is trying this weak tea to cover up his cold blooded murder of a woman in crisis.

Comment by ArchPundit Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 4:52 pm
“The other officer should have arrested Graysonon the spot. He needs to be fired along with Campbell.”

I believe that, after witnessing what had just happened, the other deputy felt that he may be the next to be shot.

Comment by Proud Sucker Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 4:54 pm
He has no defense… take a plea. As for the sheriff, you put your career in the hands of a buddy’s reference. Figure out what you do next, your law enforcement career is over.

Comment by Lincoln Lad Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 5:08 pm
It wouldn’t surprise me (and this will probably be part of his defense) that boiling water being thrown at officers is something they’re trained to watch out for, either officially or unofficially. Just like somebody reaching into their glove compartment for license and registration during a traffic stop triggering an over-reaction.

BTW, according to a growing segment of social media, it is gospel that she *did* throw boiling water at him and so he’s being wrongfully persecuted.

Comment by John Parker Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 5:12 pm
There were a lot of things that went wrong, from shoddy reporting by previous police agencies and the armed forces, up the way previous calls for help were handled (I’ll admit police have limited powers in what appear to be mental health calls), to the call that night that was totally mishandled Grayson.

How Grayson could write that report after viewing the body cam footage is unfathomable. There are NO apparent extenuating circumstances.

What the heck was Grayson thinking? He’d already been rebuked at other agencies for erroneous reports that did not match body can footage. Not only is he up a creek without a paddle, he doesn’t even have a leaky canoe.

Comment by RNUG Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 6:38 pm
Point of order: this footage is from Grayson’s partner’s camera. If you look at the matching clip from the body camera on Grayson, what you see for a few frames is she’s cowering with the pot turned around facing herself, dripping water, and cowering behind it like a shield as Grayson loses his mind and takes aim.

People on chemotherapy for cancer can have “chemo fog” effects on their brain temporarily but even if he was on chemo, Grayson should then not have been on duty in the first place, and his command should have had him on desk duty or at home. There’s zero excuses for how he reacted.

Comment by Give Us Barabbas Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 6:41 pm
==Ms. Massey had already nearly emptied the water into the sink…listen.==
I had t realized that… I need to watch the full video to see if there was any water spilled after the shots. If not, his defense is not only ludicrous but also a provable lie.

Comment by Vote Quimby Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 6:47 pm
== The other officer should have arrested Grayson on the spot. He needs to be fired along Campbell ==

Tough to do that when Grayson was standing there holding a drawn weapon. The deputy did the right thing at the moment in spite of Grayson telling him not to; he both called for and tried to render medical assistance. I’d argue that was the higher priority at the time. And he followed procedures with his body cam on from the beginning.

And I get it Campbell should resign … but if you’re going to go down that path, there are people at a number of other local and State agencies / boards that should resign also. They all either passed misinformation or withheld information from Sangamon County.

Comment by RNUG Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 6:52 pm
== If the county board doesn’t force Campbell out, ==

He’s an elected official. They might be able to make his life miserable, but the county board can’t fire him.

Comment by RNUG Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 6:54 pm
==== Ms. Massey had already nearly emptied the water into the sink…listen.====
Not only that, he told her it was alright to take it off the stove. That in it self was stupid. He could have just told her it was alright to turn off the stove.

Comment by Been There Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 7:00 pm
- Tough to do that when Grayson was standing there holding a drawn weapon. -

Well, I guess if it was tough to do that absolves him. Sheesh.

Obviously medical aid was the first priority, and he didn’t exactly get right after that either.

Once paramedics arrived he should have arrested his partner. He didn’t, despite him having committed murder right in front of him.

Comment by Excitable Boy Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 7:21 pm
I’m a Sangamon County resident, taxpayer and voter. Campbell needs to resign now. He admitted he hired Grayson based on the recommendation of a former colleague whose daughter Grayson was dating. If that isn’t the good ole boy way then I don’t what is especially when all of the many red flags were ignored. It was total incompetence that resulted in the loss of life for an unarmed woman and untold misery for her family.

Comment by Manchester Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 9:42 pm
Jack Campbell has demonstrated with his past actions that he is an esteemed Constitutional scholar.
He determines what laws he enforces and which ones he ignores.
This has to take hours and hours of study.
Hours and hours of consultation with other brilliant Constitutional Scholars that roam the State Capital and encourages the ignoring of any passed legislation they don’t like.
Now we expect him to find the time to actually run a department that keeps guns and badges out of the hands of an incompetent applicant who had been bounced from the Army, holds multiple DUI convictions, been counseled and protected by other local police agencies, and whose only positive quality is a dating relationship with the daughter of a friend.
Go figure.

Comment by Consider this Tuesday, Aug 6, 24 @ 7:57 am
Abhorrent.

Have been a police officer since H. W. Bush was president. Grayson’s treatment of Sonya Massey from the very beginning of this incident is deplorable. He was sent to her house because she is having one of the worst days in her life and he can’t manage to say anything remotely decent to her. He can’t even pretend to help her for one single moment. His verbalizations to her were not only abhorrently evil but they were not going to diffuse any part of this event. In fact, they were designed to do just the opposite. Keep the incident spinning out of control.

Grayson and the other officer fail to make any connection to this poor woman. They fail to control the situation in any way. They get themselves into an untenable situation because of that. They get into a situation where their best option is to keep talking and back up but Grayson doesn’t think he has to retreat. He makes a completely unjustifiable decision and now sits where he belongs. In jail. No sympathy for him from me.

I think it is true that the hiring pool for police work has shrunk and many candidates being hired are not qualified. I also see a general decline in quality of training and supervision. Same as the Van Dyke incident.

Comment by Occasionally Moderated Tuesday, Aug 6, 24 @ 9:40 am
“Consider this” sums it up perfectly.

Comment by don the legend Tuesday, Aug 6, 24 @ 10:37 am