Illinois Sheriff Jack Campbell, whose deputy shot Sonya Massey, issued a remorseful apology for the incident during a community gathering in her honor, The Associated Press reports.
The sheriff of Sangamon County stood before a crowded room of more than 500 concerned citizens at Union Baptist Church for a gathering in Massey’s memory facilitated by the Community Relations Service of the Justice Department. Campbell asked forgiveness from community members and admitted his faults.
“I stand here today before you with arms wide open and I ask for your forgiveness,” Campbell emotionally said.
“I ask Ms. Massey and her family for forgiveness. I offer up no excuses. What I do is offer our attempt to do better, to be better.”
He continued his heartfelt remarks and stated that the department failed Massey.
“I’m going to say something that I’ve never said in my career before. We failed. We did not do our jobs.”
A former deputy in his department, Sean Grayson, was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct after shooting the unarmed Black woman in her home on July 6. Bodycam footage released on July 22 showed Grayson was seemingly fearful of water being thrown on him as Massey moved a pot of hot water from the stove.
Despite having non-lethal options on hand, Grayson, who is white, fired his weapon three times, striking Massey once in the face.
Outrage from the Massey family and supporters across the country ignited after the incident, calling for Campbell to resign from his post. Massey’s father, James Wilburn, accused the department of potentially lying its way out of the situation. Thanks to the bodycam footage, that wasn’t possible.
“I’m calling for the sheriff’s resignation because I think it’s a culture to treat this family this bad, to call out these lies,” he said.
“If it were not for the camera footage, we as a people, we as a people, they would have lied their way right out of this.”
However, the sheriff, who was elected in 2018 and then again in 2022, has refused. “I will not abandon the sheriff’s office at this most critical moment,” Campbell said.
“That would solve nothing.”
Campbell has been ridiculed for vetting and hiring Grayson to work for Sangamon County in May 2023 despite a troubling record. According to Spectrum News, the former deputy had two drunk-driving convictions, was ejected from the U.S. Army for “serious misconduct,” and had six jobs in a matter of four years.
While working as a sheriff’s deputy in Logan County, he was reprimanded for ignoring a command to end a high-speed chase that resulted in a deer being hit.
Since Campbell refuses to step aside, protest organizers like Tiara Standage encourage Black voters to turn him away from the next election ballot.
“We will not be quiet,” Standage said.
“We will not let this be swept aside.”
RELATED CONTENT: Kamala Harris Calls Families Of Sonya Massey And D’Vontaye Mitchell