Thread by @johnbryanesq

Here's a conclusive sequence of events in the Sonya Massey shooting, verified with screenshots. 🧵

1:19:44 - First, Deputy Grayson asks Sonya for ID. "You're not in trouble, I just need your last name."

1:20:16 - As Sonya looks for her ID, Deputy Grayson notices a pot on the stove boiling and points it out to the other deputy.

1:20:18 - The other deputy then turns and looks towards the pot. His bodycam shows the pot on the stove with blue flames under it. The other deputy says "check on the burner" (to the best that I can tell).

1:20:21 - As Sonya gets up and walks around the other deputy to go towards the burner, as instructed, Deputy Grayson says, "we don't need a fire while we're here."

1:20-23 - Sonya says "right," in response to Deputy Grayson's concern about a fire, and she reaches to switch off the stove's burner.

1:20:27 - After turning off the flames, Sonya grabs oven mitts and removes the pot from the stove, heading towards the sink.

1:20:29 - As Sonya moves the pot from the stove to the sink, the other deputy laughs and turns and walks away from the kitchen and towards Grayson, who is also either smiling or laughing at Sonya.

1:20:30 - In response to the officers' laughter, Sonya (now at the sink w/ the pot) turns her head towards the other deputy and asks, "why are you moving?"

1:20:33 - The other deputy asks "huh?" to which Sonya again asks, "where are you going?"

1:20:34 - The other deputy, while laughing, says "away from your hot steaming water." Sonya replies, "away from my hot steaming water?"

1:20:36 - The other deputy says "yeah," as he turns his attention away from Sonya and begins to look around the house. We don't see Deputy Grayson at this time because he hasn't yet turned on his bodycam.

1:20:37 - After the other deputy says "yeah," Sonya can be heard pouring steaming water into the sink (causing sizzling sounds), as she casually responds, "Ah, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus."

1:20:40 - Deputy Grayson loudly says "huh?" and Sonya calmly repeats, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus."

1:20-42 - Deputy Grayson, as he partially draws his pistol, says, "You better fucking not. I swear to God, I'll fucking shoot you right in the fucking face!"

Sonya has made zero threats towards the officers. Deputy Grayson threatened to shoot her in the face, clearly placing his hand on his partially drawn pistol, in response to Sonya saying she rebukes (the other deputy) in the name of Jesus. Here's the definition of "rebuke."

1:20:43 - Sonya said nothing further and didn't move at all. Yet Deputy Grayson then fully drew his pistol and aimed it at Sonya's face - 1 second after threatening to shoot her in the face.

1:20:44 - Deputy Grayson shouts "Drop the fucking pot!" while aiming towards Sonya's face. Sonya has said nothing else, nor made any moves towards the officers.

1:20:44 - Switching to Deputy Grayson's bodycam, we can see that at this time - the first time being told to "drop the fucking pot" - Sonya raises both her hands in the air and says, "I'm sorry."

Zooming in we can see that Sonya is not holding the pot that she's being ordered at gunpoint to drop. The pot is on the stove and Sonya has oven mitts in her hands. She also appears to be covering her ears and afraid, as Grayson shouts at her to "drop the fucking pot."

1:20:45 - Sonya ducks down. At this moment you hear the other deputy draw his pistol and also yells at Sonya to "drop the pot." So now two cops are screaming at her to drop the pot that she's not holding.

1:20:45 - Switching back to Deputy Grayson's bodycam at the exact second, you can see clearly and conclusively that Sonya did not take the pot with her when she ducked down. It's still sitting on the counter.

This is zoomed in on the same screenshot, showing the pot not in Sonya's possession, as she is ducking down in fear and confusion.

1:20:46 - The other deputy fully draws his pistol and aims it at Sonya Massey, also ordering her to "drop the pot."

1:20:46 - Switching to Grayson's bodycam again, which has a better view, when the other deputy joins Grayson in aiming their guns at Sonya and shouting at her to "drop the pot," she is NOT holding the pot.

1:20:47 - Deputy Grayson then begins to advance forward, towards Sonya Massey, who has not moved from her position of cowering on her kitchen floor. Grayson is the one who begins to move. Instead of away from a perceived "threat," he moves towards Sonya.

1:20:47 - Switching back to the other deputy's bodycam, we see that the other deputy then muzzle sweeps Deputy Grayson's back as Grayson quickly and suddenly moves towards Sonya.

1:20:47 - I didn't notice until going through this sequence, but this is the moment Deputy Grayson fired. The other deputy's muzzle is still pointed at Grayson's back. The other deputy could not have fired, and likely could not see Sonya at the time due to Grayson's position.

1:20:47 - Switching back to Deputy Grayson's bodycam, this is what he saw, which appears to be Sonya Massey going from being crouched w/ no pot, to reaching up, grabbing the pot, mitts still on her hands, and then holding the pot over her head.

1:20:48 - Switching again back to the other deputy's bodycam, after Grayson shoots Sonya Massey, you see what appears to be steaming water hit the office chair at lower left and the kitchen floor.

Does it appear that Sonya Massey was in the process of doing something with the pot at the time she was shot? Yes. I think more information is needed on the scene investigation to determine exactly what she was doing, whether attempting to throw it, dump it, or something else.

But that's a red herring, IMO. The officers were NOT justified in holding her at gunpoint in her home that night in the first place, as I've demonstrated with these screenshots.

Any reasonable person, in their home, being held at gunpoint by two men, one of whom threatened to shoot her in the face, and who was advancing on her, would have believed their life was in danger at that point.

If we can't judge cops with 20/20 hindsight, we also can't judge Sonya Massey with 20/20 hindsight. She made a split second decision after being put in an impossible and unreasonable decision. Whatever she did with the pot, IMO there's a great argument that she was justified in doing it, when looking at things from her point of view. Which is what we do in self defense and use of force analysis.

Moreover, after the shooting, the officers failed to render aid, despite having the ability to do so. That, in and of itself, is a constitutional violation worthy of imprisonment.

And that's not even getting to the issue of whether it would have been reasonable to shoot a woman in the face, even if she had been threatening to throw a pot of boiling water, rather than just backing up. Instead of creating distance between himself and the boiling water, Grayson advanced on Sonya Massey.

If you're worried about boiling water, you wouldn't want to put yourself closer to that water, and then just shoot the person - since now you're close enough to the water to be seriously injured. That would be unreasonable and completely avoidable. That's like jumping in the path of a moving car and then shooting the driver. It is unreasonable to create the danger yourself, and then also resolve the danger by using deadly force. That's also a basic concept of self defense law.

Here is a good breakdown from a retired police officer and author on a police podcast explaining the police failures that occurred here.