By: Richard L. Smith
A march and rally demanding justice for Sonya Massey will take place on Sunday, July 28, 2024, at 2:00 p.m., starting at the Lincoln Statue, 12 Springfield Avenue in Newark. 
The action is part of a ‘national day of mourning’ called for by Until Freedom, who played a key role in mobilizing the community around the police killing of Breonna Taylor.
As this goes to press, 23 other cities will also host actions on Sunday, including Atlanta, Houston, New York, and Charlotte, among others
Sonya Massey, an unarmed 36-year-old Black mother of two, was shot in the face and killed by a Sangamon County deputy sheriff on July 6, 2024, in her home in downtown Springfield, Illinois, after calling 911 for assistance.
The protest was organized by the People’s Organization For Progress (POP) and co-sponsored by several groups, including the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations Study Group, Newark Communities for Accountable Policing, All Politics Are Local, and the Newark Anti-Violence Coalition aims to bring public attention to Massey's killing.
This event is part of a broader effort to demand justice for Massey, following a call from Until Freedom for a national day of mourning on Sunday.
“We heard the call for action and decided to have an event to demand justice for Sonya Massey. What happened to her is an abomination. We should rise up for her the way we did for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor,” said Lawrence Hamm, Chairman of the People’s Organization For Progress.
Until Freedom, a national social justice organization co-founded by activist Tamika Mallory, has been instrumental in organizing the national response to Massey’s death.
The shooting officer, Sean Grayson, a white police officer, has been fired and charged with murder.
It has been revealed that he held jobs with five other police departments in the last four years.
“Police brutality in this country is out of control. The police have killed more people, not less, since the murder of George Floyd. In fact, the police killed more people last year than in any year since they started keeping records,” Hamm stated.
Hamm, who was a U.S. Senate candidate in last month’s New Jersey Democratic primary, will call for the passage of the George Floyd Justice In Policing Act of 2024, introduced by the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. He will also urge the New Jersey State Legislature to pass bills enabling municipalities to establish police review boards with subpoena powers.
The march will proceed from the Lincoln Statue to the intersection of Broad and Market Streets in downtown Newark, where a rally will be held.
Speakers will include family members of recent victims of police brutality, community leaders, activists, and elected officials.
For more information, contact the People's Organization For Progress at (973) 801-0001.
