Last night Troy Anthony Davis was murdered by the state of Georgia. A man who, by all the evidence uncovered, appeared to be innocent of the murder of the off-duty policeman he was accused of killing, Mark Allen MacPhail. Hundreds of thousands around America and the world demonstrated for his clemency, for his right to a new trial, for not executing Troy Davis.
Think of the parallels here for a moment. On the same day, the Islamic Republic of Iran freed two young Americans unjustly accused of espionage. Iran sent them home after two years of incarceration. Which country showed justice and compassion?
Also on the same day, Lawrence Brewer was executed in Texas for the brutal murder of James Byrd, the Black man dragged to his death behind a truck as Brewer and his friends laughed and drank. Byrd’s body was torn to pieces. Yet Byrd’s family did not want Brewer to die for this heinous murder. The family did not want him freed, but they did not want him murdered.
As quoted in the Huffington Post, Byrd’s son Ross Byrd, 32, told Reuters on Tuesday, “You can’t fight murder with murder. Life in prison would have been fine. I know he can’t hurt my daddy anymore. I wish the state would take in mind that this isn’t what we want.”
If James Byrd had been my father, my instinct would have been to kill the people who killed him. But isn’t community and society in place just for this reason – to stop us from acting on our most base instincts?
The Supreme Court, all the justices, refused to stand up and grant a stay. President Obama, while having no power in this case, once again forgot how to use the bully pulpit.
A crime was committed in our name, with the State-sanctioned murder of Troy Anthony Davis. We are the last country in the Western World to allow executions. Isn’t it time we live up to the humanity we profess?
Marc Steiner is host of the Marc Steiner Show on WEAA and Peabody Award winning Executive Producer of the Center for Emerging Media. He has been a public radio host since 1993 before that he was a teacher, actor, therapist and community organizer. Lives in the country with Valerie, his daughter and a bunch of animals.