By Lawrence Hamm
Photos: Darleen Troutman\Balena Ali\Johnny Parker
A march and rally to demand justice for Sonya Massey, a black woman shot and killed by a deputy sheriff, was held on Sunday, July 28th in Newark, New Jersey.
About 150 people gathered at the Lincoln Statue in the heart of the downtown business district for the march which started at 2:00pm.
The protest was sponsored by the People’s Organization For Progress (POP) and co-sponsored by the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations Study Group, Newark Communities for Accountable Policing, All Politics Are Local, Newark Anti-Violence Coalition and other groups.
On July 6th, Massey, an unarmed 36 year-old Black mother of two, who called 911 for assistance, was shot and killed by Sean Grayson, a white Sangamon County deputy sheriff, in her home in Springfield, Illinois.
Grayson shot Massey in the face when he killed her. He has been fired from his job and charged with murder. It has been revealed that he held jobs with six police departments in the last four years, and was previously discharged from the military for misconduct.
We demand the trial, conviction, and jailing of the sheriff’s deputy, Sean Grayson, who killed Massey,” Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress stated just before the start of the march.
“We also demand that Grayson who was charged with homicide also be charged with a hate crime, and we demand the resignation of Sheriff Jack Campbell who hired Grayson,” Hamm said.
He also called for measures that will keep cops with bad records like Grayson from being hired by other police departments.
Hamm who was a U.S. Senate candidate in the New Jersey Democratic primary held in June called for the passage by Congress of the George Floyd Justice In Policing Act of 2024 introduced by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee who died recently.
Other demands included passage of bills by the New Jersey State Legislature that will enable municipalities to establish police review boards with subpoena powers.
He called upon Governor Murphy to make the appointments to the council required by the Seabrooks-Washington Community-Led Crisis Response Act, signed into law in the aftermath of the deaths Najee Seabrooks and Andrew Jerome Washington who were killed by police.
Finally, Hamm called upon President Biden to establish a national commission to eliminate police brutality, and a United Nations investigation into police brutality in the United States.
The protestors marched from the Lincoln Statue to to the intersection of Broad and Market Streets where they brought traffic to a standstill and held a rally with numerous speakers.
Community activists addressing the crowd included Bashir Akinyele of Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations Study Group, and Zayid Muhammad of Newark Communities for Accountable Policing.
Brother Tut a founder of New Directions, an anti-violence group, spoke at the rally. He was accompanied by Shadee Dukes a co-founder of that group. Dukes, a peacemaker, was arrested and beaten by Newark police last month. Other speakers at the rally demanded that the charges against Dukes be dropped.
Family members of police brutality victims killed in New Jersey were speakers at the rally. These included Denise Davis and Toni Ervin, aunts of Andrew Jerome Washington III who was killed by Jersey City police.
Several elected officials spoke there including Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, also a declared candidate in the race for governor, LaMonica McIver, Newark City Council president and congressional candidate, Councilwoman Louise Scott-Rountree, and Councilman Dupree Kelly.
The protestors marched back to the Lincoln Statue. For the entire march they carried signs calling for justice for Sonya Massey. There was a banner also at the front of the march saying “Stop Police Brutality” and another in the march calling for police review boards with subpoena power.
There were banners bearing the names of police brutality victims in the state including Carl Dorsey, Bernard Placide Jr, Andrew Washington III, Gulia Dale III, Earl Faison, Jerome Reid, Rodwell/Spivey Brothers, Jameek Lowery, Kashad Ashford and several others.
The banners and signs being carried were not limited to police brutality. Some banners were seen calling for permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to military aid in Israel.
A closing rally was held at the Lincoln statue. Speakers there included Assatta Mann of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, and Valerie Dale, sister of Maj. Gulia Dale III who was shot and killed by Newton police. Both condemned the killing of Massey.
For more information call the People’s Organization For Progress at (973)801-0001.
