Community rallies for Sonya Massey; family meets with Sangamon Co. authorities

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Protestors have gathered outside the NAACP building Wednesday afternoon to rally for a woman killed in a deputy-involved shooting. The family of Sonya Massey is viewing the body camera footage inside.

Sonya Massey was killed after calling 911 for a prowler near her home earlier this month, police said. WCIA has requested the body camera footage from both the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office and Illinois State Police.

The Southern View Police Department said they had “intel” of rioting, looting, and property damage ahead of the release of the body-camera footage. The Springfield Police Department has said they have no knowledge of credible threats or safety concerns, but are preparing for anything ahead of the release.

That absence of information has been frustrating to everyone who’s been grieving.

“You can’t move through your grief and process it if you don’t have the information you need to that,” Sunshine Clemons, the co-president of Black Lives Matter Springfield, said. “So it is really just delaying them being able to move forward as a family, because the real question at hand is what happened, why did it happen?”

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