WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — New body camera footage released by police in Illinois shows officers shooting dead an unarmed Black woman in her home after she called for help over a possible intruder.

In the United States, where police shootings of minorities have become painfully common and polarizing events, the killing has attracted national attention, with President Joe Biden saying Sonya Massey “should be alive today.”

At a news conference Tuesday, high-profile civil rights attorney Ben Crump called the shooting, in which one officer has been charged with murder, “senseless,” adding that the family has alleged police initially tried to downplay their responsibility.

Massey, 36, called 911 to report a possible intruder at her home and police arrived after midnight 6 July, according to the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.

In video footage released Monday, Massey is seen talking to two officers in her home, while they ask for ID and she searches through paperwork.

The sheriff’s deputies then ask her to check on a pot of boiling water on her stove, saying “we don’t need a fire while we’re here.”

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump called the shooting of Sonya Massey senseless.

When one of the deputies steps back, Massey asks why, and he responds with a laugh: “away from your hot steaming water.”

Holding the pot, Massey calmly responds “Oh, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus” — prompting a deputy to respond “You better fucking not. I swear to God I’ll fucking shoot you at your fucking face,” drawing his weapon.

Apologizing, Massey crouches behind a counter as officers scream “drop the fucking pot.” They then round the corner of the counter and open fire.

Afterward, one of the officers said they were afraid of “taking fucking boiling water to the fucking head.”

Fired and charged

Officer Sean Grayson, who is white, has been fired and charged with murder, with Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell issuing a statement to denounce his “unjustifiable and reckless decision.”

Biden on Monday called Massey “a beloved mother, friend, daughter, and young Black woman,” while Crump said that Vice President Kamala Harris was set to speak with Massey’s family.