in this video I will show you using screenshots from the body cam footage exactly why what happened to Sonia Massie was unjustified and illegal who was acting in self-defense was it Deputy Grayson or was it Sonia Massie well we have to look to Illinois Law And there are two important things there that you need to realize one is that you cannot claim self-defense under Illinois Law if you were the initial aggressor secondly it's actually legal to use self-defense against a police officer if that police officer is using excessive force against you so let's go through exactly what happened because there are indisputable facts and neither side gets to make up their own facts these are the facts step by step of what actually happened to Sonia Massie so the first Sonia Massie video that I posted on X right after it dropped from the Illinois State Police went really viral almost 40 million views during the ensuing debates as well as having time to fully digest the video and going over it numerous times I saved a series of screenshots utilizing both officers body cam footage that takes us step by step through the shooting that occurred and the these facts which again cannot be disputed we all have to work with them they show that this was an unjustified shooting and I'll show you exactly where they show that I noticed that there was a lot of misinformation and a lot of confusion so I saved all these screenshots and then I I formed them into a thread on X and it's still up on my X account it's John brryan Esq the civil rights lawyer on x and it's gone pretty viral as well almost at a million views so let's go through them because they establish the Baseline that neither side can dispute here and this is using timestamps so the first screenshot is at 1:19 and 44 seconds and this is where Deputy Grayson asks Sonia Massie for her ID he's inside her house he says you're not in trouble I just need your last name she's not under arrest she isn't being accused of having committed any crime Deputy Grayson is in her house as an invite she's not in handcuffs we don't see her being frisked there's no indication that she's armed or dangerous at this point this is just a conversation with somebody who had called police with concerns about a Prowler or that she felt unsafe for some reason there are indications that she had mental issues unfortunately it wasn't until after the shooting that any of these officers radio dispatch and and asked if there was any mental health related history at this address that's something that they could have done before the fact here's the next thing that happened at 1220 and6 seconds as Sonia looks for her ID Deputy Grayson notices a pot on the stove that's boiling and he points it out to the other Deputy who by the way as far as I have seen is thus far unnamed so I'll refer to him as the other Deputy at 120 and8 seconds the other Deputy then turns and he looks towards the pot that's on the stove his body cam video 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 though it's kind of difficult to hear at20 and 21 seconds as Sonia gets up and walks around the other Deputy to walk towards the burner as instructed Deputy Grayson then says we don't need a fire while we're here at 120 and 23 seconds Sonia says right in response to Deputy Grayson's concern about a fire and she reaches to switch off the stoves burner at 120 and 27 seconds after turning off the Flames Sonia grabs oven mitts and she removes the pot from the stove heading towards the sink with the pot at 120 and 29 seconds as Sonia moves the pot from the stove to the sink the other Deputy then laughs and turns around and walks away from the kitchen and towards Deputy Grayson who was also either smiling or laughing at Sonia at 1220 and 30 seconds in response to the officer's laughter at her Sonia who is now at the sink with the pot turns her head towards the other deputy and asks why are you moving at 1:20 and 33 seconds the other Deputy asks huh to which Sonia again asks where are you going at20 and 34 seconds the other Deputy while laughing says away from your hot steaming water Sonia replies away from my hot steaming water at 1 20 and 36 seconds the other Deputy says yeah as he turns his attention away from Sonia and begins to look around the house which also implies that he does not view Sonia as a threat if he did why would he turn his back to her literally we don't see Deputy Grayson at this point because Grayson has not yet turned on his body cam at 20 and 37 seconds after the other Deputy says yeah Sonia can be heard pouring steaming water into the sink which is causing sizzling sounds as she casually responds ah I rebuke you in the name of Jesus at 120 in 40 seconds Deputy Grayson loudly says huh and Sonia calmly repeats I rebuke you in the name of Jesus and we can see on the other deputies body cam at the time that this occurs da is still facing towards the sink and she has turned her head towards over her left shoulder looking towards the deputies who really are on the other side of the room that she's in and not even in the kitchen with her we can see on the video that she is not walking towards them in any way or approaching them or even holding the pot she's got the pot at the sink she clearly is not using the pot as a weapon nor threatening to at this time unless you think the rebuke comment is a threat and we'll get to that at 120 and 42 seconds Deputy Grayson as he partially draws his pistol which you can hear says you better effing not I swear to God I'll effing shoot you right in the effing face still Sonia Massie is still generally facing the sink looking over her left shoulder she's not walking towards the officers she's not throwing anything at the officers Sonia has made zero threats towards the officers deputy Grayson threatened to shoot her in the face clearly placed his hand on his partially drawn pistol just in response to Sonia saying that she rebukes presumably the other Deputy who was moving away from her in the name of Jesus so I looked up the definition of rebuke and here it is as a verb expresses sharp disapproval or criticism of someone because of their behavior or actions example she has rebuked him for drinking too much as a noun an expression of sharp disapproval or criticism example he hadn't meant it as a rebuke but Neil flinched nowhere in the commonly used definition of rebuke is it ever utilized to signify a threat towards anyone at 120 and 43 seconds Sonia said nothing further and didn't move at all yet Deputy Grayson then fully drew his pistol and he aimed it at Sonia's face this is just 1 second after he threatened to shoot her in the face at 120 and 44 seconds Deputy Grayson shouts dropped the effing pot while aiming towards Sonia's face Sonia has said nothing else nor made any moves towards the officers at 120 and44 seconds switching to Deputy Grayson's body cam now we can see that at this time this is the first time that she's being told to drop the pot he says drop the effing pot then Sonia raises both her hands in the air and she says I'm sorry zooming in we can see that at that exact moment Sonia is not holding the pot that she's being ordered at gunpoint to drop the pot is actually on the stove and Sonia has oven mitts in her hands she also appears to be covering her ears possibly and clearly afraid as Deputy Grayson shouts at her to drop the effing pot at 1220 and 45 seconds Sonia Ducks down at this moment moment you hear the other Deputy draw his pistol also and he also yells at Sonia to quote drop the pot so now there are two cops screaming at her to drop the pot that she's not holding how do we know that she's not holding it well let's switch body cams let's go to Deputy Grayson's body cam at that exact moment 120 and 45 seconds you can see clearly and conclusively that Sonia did not take the pot with her when she ducked down the pot is still sitting on the counter here's a view from that body cam zoomed in showing the pot not in Sonia's possession as she's ducked down in fear and confusion at 120 and 46 seconds the other Deputy now fully draws his pistol as it comes into view and he also aims it at Sonia Massie and he also orders her to quote drop the pot that she's not holding how do we know that she's still not holding the pot again switching back to Deputy Grayson's body cam the same moment 120 and 46 seconds we see from a better view now that when the other Deputy joins Grayson both aiming their guns at Sonia both shouting at Sonia to drop the pot we can see that at that very moment she is not holding the pot there's the pot not in her hands at 120 and 47 seconds Deputy Grayson then begins to advance forward towards Sonia Massie who has not moved from her position of cowering on her kitchen floor Grayson is the one who begins to move instead of moving away from some threat that he allegedly perceived he instead moves towards Sonia or towards the alleged threat Sonia is not moving at this time at the same moment 120 and 47 seconds switching back to the other depuy's body cam we can see that Grayson is moving towards Sonia Massie and that the other Deputy then has not moved and so he muzzle sweeps Deputy Grayson's back as Grayson is quickly and suddenly moving in front of him in towards Sonia again instead of away from some threat or instead of creating distance between himself and a threat then at 120 and 47 seconds looking from the other depuy's body cam this is the exact moment that Deputy Grayson fired at that moment the other deputy's muzzle of his firearm is still pointed at the back of Deputy Grayson so at that point he could not have also fired it looks like he likely could not even see Sonia Massie at the time that Grayson fired due to Grayson walking in front of him now at 12 20 and 47 seconds switching back to Deputy Grayson's body cam we have a better view this is what he saw which appears to be at the moment that he fired within at least the same second he sees Sonia Massie going from being crouched without holding the pot while at gunpoint to suddenly reaching up this is as Grayson is quickly and suddenly advancing on her after having held her at gunpoint and threatened her shoot her in the face ordered her to drop the pot numerous times that she wasn't holding as he advances on her Sonia then suddenly reaches up grabs the pot with the oven mitts still on her hands and then at least with one hand holds the pot over her head and dumps the water out the claim is that she was throwing the water or attempting to throw the water at Deputy Grayson switching back again to the other depuy's body cam at 120 and 48 seconds we can see that after Grayson shoots you can then see what appears to be the steaming water hit the office chair that's at the lower left and on the kitchen floor and this office chair is between the officers and Sonia Massie clearly the water was flying some distance through the air onto that chair and onto the floor so there you have what I believe are the basic facts of the shooting of Sonia Massie those are screenshots of video that are indisputable those are timestamps that are indisputable those are the facts that both sides have to work with to be clear the Illinois State Police who investigated the shooting concluded that it was not a Justified shooting the officer was terminated and charged with first degree murder most of the claims to the contrary um by police officers and police activists that think that this officer is just getting railroaded have to do with a pot of boiling water is a weapon and if somebody comes at you with a pot of boiling water you're entitled to use deadly force to defend against that threat I don't disagree with that but here what are the facts did she come at him with a pot of boiling water no at least not initially since Deputy Grayson is charged with first-degree murder we have to look at this in the context of the criminal case he can't deny shooting Sonia Massie he did it's on video but what he can do is assert the affirmative defense of self-defense and the standard of self-defense can be different in every state here Deputy Grayson under Illinois Law would be justified in shooting Sonia Massie only if he reasonably believed that doing so was necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or another in this case the other Deputy however section 7-4 c C of the Illinois self-defense statute says that this justification of self-defense is not available to a person who initially provokes the use of force against himself so under Illinois Law a person who initiates or provokes the use of force has only a limited right to thereafter use force in self-defense so if Dey Grayson was the initial aggressor and we can see from the screenshots from the timestamps just merely in response to the rebuke comment he pulled a gun on Sonia Massie who's just standing in her kitchen with a pot of water he threatens to shoot her in the face he pulls his pistol and he aims at her face Sonia Massie has taken no steps towards him she has made no threats towards him a rebuke is not a threat to believe so may be objectively true or subjectively true but it wouldn't be reasonable because that's not the definition of I rebuke you in the name of Jesus at no point does she take any steps towards him yet he's holding her at gunpoint threatening to shoot her in the face tells her to drop the pot thereafter she's not holding the pot she drops to the ground he continues to hold her at gunpoint and then he begins to advance on her so if he thought that he was an imminent danger of death or great bodily harm remember he wasn't there to arrest Sonia Massie this was just a a sudden thing that he perceived as a threat if that's the case and he had the ability to escape that threat like walk backwards which he did he didn't do it instead of just backing away and creating distance creating space he decides to quickly and suddenly move forward he has problems with asserting self-defense here one is that he was the initial aggressor if if he's going to argue she was an imminent threat because of boy water well it's only proximity to that boiling water that would make it an an imminent threat all he has to do is create some space he didn't do that but what about the fact that he was a police officer so according to the Illinois State Police and prosecutors in Illinois Deputy Grayson was acting illegally he was acting unlawfully I think there's a pretty easy case to be made here that at the point she was being held at gunpoint when she wasn't supposed to be under arrest these people were invited into her home they pulled guns on her threatened to shoot her in the face at that point she is actually the one who's in imminent danger and it would be very reasonable for her to have believed that she needs to use self-defense that she needs to somehow defend herself against this imminent and unlawful threat to her life so she could have pulled a gun at that point and it would be seen as reasonable she could have grabbed any weapon but all she did was grab the pot Illinois state law does allow their citizens to assert self-defense when they use Force against a police officer under certain circumstances it can't just be that it's an unlawful arrest that they believe it's an unlawful arrest and it is in fact an unlawful arrest it has to be an excessive force situation so where an officer uses excessive force that then invokes the right of self-defense in Illinois and is a citizen is entitled to use self-defense against a police officer where they are using illegal and unconstitutional excessive force against that citizen so here aiming a pistol at Sonia massie's face threatening to shoot her in the face and then advancing on her as if he's about to do that in my opinion fits right under that exception here's the point under Illinois Law Sonia Massie would have been legally Justified it would have been lawful for her to grab a pot of water or any other weapon and try to defend herself against this unlawful officer even though he has a badge it doesn't matter he was acting unlawfully if the facts really were that he came inside her house and just out of nowhere she picks up a pot of boiling water and comes at him with the pot of boiling water nobody would deny that he would be allowed to defend himself he would be allowed to use deadly force to defend against that threat even boiling water those aren't the facts that we have here you don't just look at that moment you have to look at how that moment was created that's why you can't be an initial aggressor you can't provoke a road rage incident and then shoot the guy and claim well it was self-defense if you were the aggressor if you provoked it that's just what happened here Sonia Massie had committed no crime yes he he thought she was threatening them with the pot of boiling water in fact she was not and that's the claim that he can make to a jury if and when he gets to trial his belief that that he and his partner were in imminent danger it has to be objectively reasonable even if he truly believed they were in danger that belief can be unreasonable and from my understanding that's the difference between first-degree murder and second degree murder in Illinois so a jury could ultimately determine that yeah he thought he was in danger from Sonia Massie but that belief was unreasonable under the circumstances so they could find him not guilty of first-degree murder but guilty of second deegree murder because he did have a belief but it was unreasonable and I think there's a good chance that that is where this Falls he didn't walk in there with any intent to kill Sonia Massie that night it was some something that happened suddenly and because he never should have been a police officer he didn't have the temperament for it maybe he didn't have the intelligence for it and he was very quick on the trigger and apparently very afraid of the situation all of those things are unreasonable they're indicators that he acted unreasonably so thanks for watching and I want to thank this audience for donating to The Institute for justice in the last video I'm told that just in like 4 days you guys donated over $25,000 to the Institute for justice to help them in their fight against the DEA seizing cash at airports unconstitutionally that really is awesome remember our rights don't end where your fear begins freedom is scary deal with it