EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Sunday was declared a national day of mourning for Sonya Massey, the woman killed by an Illinois sheriff's deputy in her Springfield home. Vigils and rallies were held throughout the country calling for justice.
A gathering was also held in the Metro East including some who marched during the 1960s civil rights movement.
These rallies come days after police released body camera footage of the incident.
One demonstration this afternoon in East St. Louis honoring Massey also held space for the 1917 race riots and the 100th anniversary of the NAACP East St. Louis Branch.
For the East St. Louis Historical Society, "If you don't remember the past, you will relive it," Walter Brandon, president of the East. St. Louis Historical Society said. "It looks like we're reliving the past all over again."
Sunday's reenactment highlighted the 1917 silent march down New York City's 5th Avenue. The march, 107 years ago, was in response to the East. St. Louis race riot massacre just weeks before.
Jaye P. Willis, the East St. Louis Historical Society's executive director, said it was caused in part by Blacks moving from Mississippi to find work resulting in anger and horrific violence.
"It became not so much about they're taking our jobs, now we're going to take their lives," Willis told 5 On Your Side. "When you look at what happened with Sonya Massey, you just have to wonder what would make them think that a boiling pot of water would be something that would endanger the life of a police officer who is standing there with a gun?"
"I can't make any sense of it," Robin Carey-Boyd, the president of the NAACP East St. Louis Branch said in response to Massey's death. "I really can't. I feel horrible for the family but she's not the first. Unfortunately, I believe she is not the last but we will continue to speak and have our voices be heard."
A crowd walked silently down State Street in black and white, just like in 1917. Among the participants was 88-year-old East St. Louis native Reginald Petty, who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. twice.
Petty reflected on when things were a lot worse in East St. Louis.
"When I couldn't be born at a hospital in East St. Louis," Petty said. "I had to be born in St. Louis. The two hospitals in East St. Louis would not allow Blacks in it."
Petty emphasized these demonstrations are crucial in response to former deputy Sean Grayson shooting Massey, including in Chicago on Saturday at the Federal Plaza City Market.
"We continue to fight for justice, equal rights and for us not to be judge based on the color of our skin," Carey-Boyd said.
Another rally in Massey's honor is expected at 6:30 p.m. Monday downtown in Kiener Plaza.
Former Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson is due back in court on Aug. 26.