HARRIS TO MEET WITH FAMILY
Officer Sean Grayson, who is white, has been fired and charged with murder, with Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell stating to denounce his “unjustifiable and reckless decision”.
Biden on Monday called Massey “a beloved mother, friend, daughter, and young Black woman”, while Crump said that Vice President Kamala Harris was set to speak with Massey’s family.
“Equal justice is paramount,” Crump told the news conference Tuesday, saying state authorities had promised a “fair and transparent investigation”.
But Crump said those promises come after the family alleged police originally tried to downplay their involvement in the shooting.
Police told the family who arrived on the scene that “we know she was having problems with her neighbour, as to suggest that the neighbour might have done it”, Crump said.
Police shootings and brutality – especially instances of white-on-Black violence in a country with a long history of discrimination – often attract outrage and protests in the United States, as well as defences and pushback from ardent police supporters.
America’s decentralized policing system, where individual towns and counties are responsible for their own policing, means there are no national training requirements, which also makes reform extremely difficult.
Adding to complications, the United States is home to more guns than people, meaning police often train for violent encounters with the general public.
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