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Sonya Massey death brings fresh heartache to Breonna Taylor, George Floyd activists

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Sonya Massey death brings fresh heartache to Breonna Taylor, George Floyd activists


Many Black women were elated over Kamala Harris’ rise only to experience new horror over the video of Massey’s killing. One activist likened the whiplash to a ‘domestic violence relationship.’

Hannah Drake felt something akin to emotional whiplash when she saw the video of an Illinois police officer killing Sonya Massey earlier this week. 

Drake, 48, described the moment as the “dichotomy of being a Black woman in America.”

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The bodycam footage showing the 36-year-old Black mother of two being shot in her own kitchen by Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson was published Monday. 

Massey had called 911 to report a possible intruder in her Springfield home on July 6. Thirty minutes later she was shot dead.

The shooting occurred as another deputy was clearing the house. Grayson began “aggressively yelling” at Massey to put down a pot of boiling water she had removed from her stove, although he had given her permission to do so. Grayson can be heard in the body cam footage saying “I swear to God. I’ll f— shoot you right in your f— face,” before firing a bullet at Massey’s head.

The footage was released just as the Democratic Party began to rally around Vice President Kamala Harris, making her the presumptive nominee to replace President Joe Biden – much to the elation of many Black women, some of whom have felt taken for granted by the Democratic Party. 

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Bodycam footage shows fatal shooting of Sonya Massey

Police body camera footage captured the moments in the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey in the Springfield, Illinois area.

“It’s like we’re in a domestic violence relationship with America,” Drake said. “It’s like a honeymoon phase, and then it’s right back to violence.”

It’s an eerily familiar feeling for the activist and poet, who was integral in passing police reform in Louisville, Kentucky, after the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor.

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Four years ago, people across the U.S. called for a racial reckoning in the wake of the killings of Taylor and George Floyd. Major companies made financial pledges to reduce racial disparities and lawmakers promised to meet the demands for policy change. 

But progress toward those goals has been slow – particularly at the federal level, where few substantive policies have been passed to curb police-incited violence. Last year, the police killed more Americans than any other year on record. 

Harris called the Massey family to offer condolences, and issued a statement Tuesday saying “we have much work to do to ensure that our justice system fully lives up to its name.”

“Sonya Massey deserved to be safe,” Harris said, adding that she and second gentlemen Doug Emhoff were “grieving her senseless death.”

For activists like Drake, Massey’s killing marks yet another flashpoint in the struggle to end the scourge. Her death, they say, brings even more urgency to their cause. 

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‘Russian roulette’

Timothy Findley Jr. a Louisville, K.y. pastor, organized countless protests demanding justice after Breonna Taylor’s death in 2020. Today, Findley finds himself questioning whether the work he did and the attention he helped draw to police brutality made a difference.

In light of Massey’s case, Findley said he believes there are few ways Black and brown people can interact safely with law enforcement. The officer who shot Massey was responding to a call for help she had initiated about a possible intruder. When he shot her in the head, she was holding a pot of water. 

“For me, like with so many others, it continues to reinforce the belief that law enforcement is not always the helpful, friendly entity that we need,” Findley said. “You call 911, and it’s almost like Russian roulette. Depending on who you get, it could be the end of your life.”

DeRay McKesson views the path of progress slightly differently. As leader of the organization Campaign Zero, McKesson works day in and day out to pass local and state policies to reduce police violence. McKesson became a civil rights activist after 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, nearly ten years ago. 

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“This last decade is the first sustained period of activism ever around the police,” McKesson said of the improvements he’s seen since. 

Seven states now have adopted Campaign Zero’s recommended restrictions on the use of no-knock raids, the practice that allowed police to enter Breonna Taylor’s home. 

Renewed calls for action

McKesson, however, doesn’t deny that more change is needed. When he heard of Massey’s death earlier this month, the first thing he researched was the police department’s local use of force policy because often “they’re awful.” 

“They allow the police to kill people,” McKesson said. “Imagine if you had a job where no matter what you did, it was impossible to be held accountable.”

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The officer who shot Massey was fired after the incident. But an Illinois labor council representing the officer has since filed a complaint, arguing that he was terminated “without just cause.” Prior to Massey’s killing, the officer had a disciplinary record that included claims of bullying and abuse of power, according to reporting by CBS News.

Those circumstances are part of the reason Lonita Baker, an attorney who represented Breonna Taylor’s family, believes a cultural change in the way law enforcement organizations operate is equally as important as policy reform efforts. 

“We can have all the legislation in the world, but if we still have the bad people they’re still going to do bad things,” Baker said.

Efforts to decrease police brutality, she said, should be focused at the local level – where most departments are run. She has advocated for more thoughtful hiring practices, and enacting better systems of addressing misconduct within police departments.

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At the federal level, Baker puts the blame for policy action squarely in the hands of Congress, who has yet to pass the comprehensive George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. 

“As someone that works, and pushes for continued change, I’m going to continue like every little bit that we get is a step in the right direction,” Baker affirmed. “Is it fast enough? Absolutely not.”

Trahern Crews, an activist who founded Black Lives Matter Minnesota, urged Democrats to make racial justice a policy priority ahead of the 2024 general election. While he said he won’t vote for Trump, Crews believes Democrats need to earn the votes of Black Americans by more ardently pushing for policy change in the next few months. 

“It’s just a wake up call for all of us across the country that we still have a lot of work, work to do, and that we have to get to it,” Crews said of Massey’s death. 

“The only way we won’t go backwards is if we continue to stay in the streets and continue to organize and continue to put, not just pressure on police departments, but also on elected officials to do the right thing and enact policies into a law.”

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Contributing: Steven Spearie, The Springfield State Journal- Register

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Bobby Cox, Hall of Fame manager of Atlanta Braves, dies at age 84

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Bobby Cox, Hall of Fame manager of Atlanta Braves, dies at age 84

Former Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox waves to the crowd as he is introduced at a ceremony to open the Braves’ new stadium before a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, April 14, 2017, in Atlanta.

John Bazemore/AP


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John Bazemore/AP

ATLANTA — Bobby Cox, the folksy manager of the Atlanta Braves whose teams ruled the National League during the 1990s and gave the city its first major title as well as World Series trips that fell short, has died. He was 84.

The Atlanta Braves announced Cox’s death Saturday; details weren’t immediately available. Cox had a stroke in 2019.

“Bobby was the best manager to ever wear a Braves uniform. He led our team to 14 straight division titles, five National League pennants, and the unforgettable World Series title in 1995. His Braves managerial legacy will never be matched,” the Braves said in a statement.

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Cox took over a last-place team in June 1990 and led the Braves to a worst-to-first finish in 1991, losing the World Series to the Minnesota Twins in seven games. That was the start of what was to be a record 14 consecutive division titles, a feat no professional team in any sport had accomplished.

He managed the Braves for 25 years and led Atlanta to its only World Series title in 1995, retired after the 2010 season and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.

“Bobby was a favorite among all in the baseball community, especially those who played for him. His wealth of knowledge on player development and the intricacies of managing the game were rewarded with the sport’s ultimate prize in 2014 — enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame,” the Braves said.

As of Saturday, Cox ranks fourth all-time with 2,504 wins, fifth with 4,508 games, first with 15 division titles including a record 14 in a row, first with 16 playoff appearances and fourth with 67 playoff victories.

Only Connie Mack, John McGraw and Tony La Russa had more regular-season wins than Cox. His 158 regular-season ejections also was the most among managers.

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“He is the Atlanta Braves,” catcher Brian McCann said in 2019. “He’s the best.”

McCann described Cox as an “icon” and “one of the best human beings any of us have ever met.”

The Braves retired Cox’s No. 6 jersey in 2011, when he joined the team’s Hall of Fame.

Cox spent 29 seasons as a major league manager, including four with Toronto. He managed 16 postseason teams. He brought an old-school approach to the dugout. He always wore spikes and stirrups, and his fatherly demeanor inspired loyalty from his players.

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The New Harvard Trend? Getting Punched in the Face.

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The New Harvard Trend? Getting Punched in the Face.

Her opponent at the Babson fight night was her Harvard teammate Muskaan Sandhu, 18, a freshman, who had sparred before. No one likes getting hit, Ms. Sandhu said, but she liked learning that she could take a punch.

It made her feel she could do anything. “After the fight, I never felt so capable in my life,” she said.

Modern life — lived on screens or amid the constant distraction of screens — can feel isolating. She sees boxing as a way to engage with people. “You feel really human,” she said. “You feel a connection with the person you’re fighting. Like we’re in this together.”

Mr. Lake said he intended for Harvard’s club to join the National Collegiate Boxing Association, a nonprofit that provides structure and safety rules. The N.C.B.A. represents about 840 athletes, an 18 percent increase from a year ago, said the group’s president, George Chamberlain, who coaches the University of Iowa’s boxing club.

The well-attended fight night at Babson, which also included boxers from Brandeis University, reflected the growing interest.

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Before it began, a volunteer passed out waiver documents. Most of the boxers immediately flipped to the end and signed. Mr. Jiang, of Harvard, appeared to be the only one who read it.

He was a mixed martial arts fan who resolved to try a combat sport in college. “I like the technique side of it,” Mr. Jiang said of boxing, “the science behind the sport.”

His fight plan, he explained, was to control the action with his jab and occasionally throw the right hand, to maintain good defense and try to tire out his opponent.

It seemed a solid strategy — though, as the heavyweight Mike Tyson famously noted, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.

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Frontier Airlines plane hits person on runway during takeoff at Denver airport

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Frontier Airlines plane hits person on runway during takeoff at Denver airport

A Frontier Airlines plane hit a person on the runway of Denver’s international airport during takeoff, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate, authorities said.

The plane, headed to Los Angeles, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff” at about 11.19pm on Friday, the Denver airport’s official X account wrote.

Neither the airport nor the airline has disclosed the person’s condition.

“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot of the plane involved told the control tower at one point, according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”

The pilot told the air traffic controller they have “231 souls” on board – and that an “individual was walking across the runway”.

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The air traffic controller responded that they were “rolling the trucks now” before the pilot told the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft”.

“We are going to evacuate on the runway,” the pilot added.

Frontier Airlines said in a statement that flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision – and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff”. It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the crash with the person.

The plane, an Airbus A321, “was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members”, the airline said. “We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities.”

Passengers were then evacuated using slides, and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal.

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Denver’s airport said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had been notified and that runway 17L – where the incident took place – will remain closed while an investigation is conducted.

Friday’s episode at Denver’s airport came one day after a Delta Airline employee died on Thursday night at Orlando’s international airport when a vehicle struck a jet bridge next to an airplane with passengers onboard, as the local news outlet WESH reported.

Meanwhile, on 3 May, a United Airlines plane arriving in Newark, New Jersey, from Venice, Italy, clipped a delivery truck and a light pole, which in turn struck a Jeep. Only the delivery truck driver was injured, but the plane was damaged extensively and the NTSB classified the case as an accident while also opening an investigation.

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