Baton Rouge residents hold vigil for Sonya Massey

Baton Rouge, LA – On July 28, around 20 community members gathered in a local hair salon to hold a vigil for Sonya Massey, a Black woman who was wrongfully killed by state of Illinois Deputy Sean Grayson. The vigil took place five days after the release of body cam footage by Illinois police. The goal of the event was to link the killing of Sonya Massey to the killing of Alton Sterling by Baton Rouge police almost exactly eight years ago. Participants called for an end to the ongoing police brutality that plagues Louisiana.

The vigil provided space for attendees to discuss their feelings and reactions to the killing. One attendee felt that deputy Sean Grayson “baited” Massey in order to kill her. Laramie Griffin, an organizer with Evolve, pointed out that the officer who killed Massey had his body camera off and was only recorded because the other deputy had left his turned on. Most of the conversation focused on changes that would be necessary to end the killings.

“What needs to happen is that police are held accountable when they turn the body cameras off,” commented a representative of the Nation of Islam.

Laramie Griffin of Evolve says that his organization’s immediate demands are for Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The organization calls for the shutdown of the “brave cave” building, the location of a Baton Rouge Police Department black-site and torture warehouse. Evolve also demands that police agencies no longer be allowed to turn off body-worn cameras at any time during a shift, and for footage to be released to the public within 72 hours of any incident.

Griffin also noted that reforms passed after the killing of Alton Sterling, like Louisiana Act 272, may have saved Massey’s life if they were law in Illinois. This 2017 Louisiana law expanded the grounds for police decertification.

The event was hosted by Victory Over Louisiana Violence (Evolve) and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and was well represented by local groups, including Not Your Past Ministry, New Orleans for Community Oversight of the Police, the Baton Rouge NAACP, and a local Black gun rights organization all attended.

The vigil ended with a hopeful tone, playing a music video of the song change, dedicated to Sonya by Shreveport musician RayDaYungin.

#BatonRougeLA #SonyaMassey #Evolve #NOCOP #PSL #NotYourPastMinistry #NAACP