Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Sangamon County sheriff Jack Campbell (pictured, left, white shirt) responded to repeated calls for his resignation Monday night – because one of his deputies killed a Black woman in a shooting ruled unjustified – by saying his stepping down would solve nothing.
Campbell spoke as part of a “listening session” put on in a packed gymnasium by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Springfield NAACP.
Deputy Sean Grayson, since fired, jailed, and indicted for murder, shot Sonya Massey of Springfield in the face as she was moving a pot of hot water. Grayson and another deputy responded to Massey’s 9-1-1 call about a possible prowler July 6.
The listening session devolved into chaos after about an hour and a half, with attendees claiming it would have no effect on anything. Shortly before the event ended, one man called out pastor T. Ray McJunkins, saying his Union Baptist Church, which hosted Monday’s session, has done nothing for Black people.
The Massey family and its attorney, noted civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, are scheduled to hold a news conference and rally Tuesday evening in Chicago to respond to a police labor organization’s call for Grayson to be reinstated with back pay. Also scheduled to participate: Rev. Al Sharpton.
