Trump Refuses To Say If Sheriff's Deputy Who Killed Sonya Massey Should Have Immunity

In a controversial sit-down interview with political journalists at the annual National Association of Black Journalists convention, former President Donald Trump did not seem familiar with the death of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who was shot by an Illinois sheriff’s deputy earlier this month.

Trump also refused to clearly answer if the officer in that case, Sean Grayson, should receive immunity from prosecution. Grayson has been charged with murder by local authorities.

The event Wednesday, moderated by Rachel Scott, an ABC News senior congressional correspondent; Harris Faulkner, anchor of “The Faulkner Focus” and co-host of “Outnumbered” on Fox News; and Kadia Goba, a politics reporter at Semafor, started nearly an hour late.

Goba asked Trump whether Grayson, the officer who shot and killed Massey, deserved qualified immunity. Trump said in a rally last week in Minnesota he would give officers federal immunity so they can “do their jobs.”

“Why should an officer like that have immunity, in your opinion?” Goba asked.

“I don’t know the exact case but I saw something. And it didn’t look good to me,” Trump said. “You are talking with the water right?” Trump asked, while seeming unsure if Grayson was charged.

When Goba asked again, Trump avoided a clear answer about whether Grayson would receive immunity under his policy proposal, though Trump suggested he didn’t approve of Grayson’s actions.

“Well he might not, it depends on what happens. I am talking about people much different than that. We need people to protect ourselves,” Trump said. “In this particular case, that did not look good to me, I did not like it. I did not like it at all.”

Trump’s comments on Massey come about a week after body-camera footage