The state of Georgia killed Troy Davis last night.
I’m sure many of you are aware of this tragedy. I receive updates from change.org after signing the petition to save his life. I know many I have talked with are upset, and I wanted to share the words from Patrick of change.org. I hope those of you who are sad can find comfort and meaning in his words.
Hearing his story, I can’t help but feel angry humans think they can decide who deserves life and who deserves to die. Troy Davis’ case was, in my mind, beyond reasonable doubt of innocence. The death penalty is a very loaded issue, but I do think every human life lost should be mourned.
If you feel comfortable, please use the comment section as a safe space to express your feelings and concerns. Also feel free to contact me individually if you need to talk.
Patrick wrote:
Despite so much doubt about Troy Davis’s guilt — including seven witnesses who changed or recanted their testimony, and three jurors who convicted Troy who later asked that his life be spared — Georgia’s parole board decided he should die. And so tonight at 11:08 Eastern Time, he was killed by lethal injection.
His sister, Kim Davis, wanted to tell you what her brother said before he died:
“When Troy saw that more than 250,000 Change.org members signed a petition that was delivered to the board in his name, he called to tell me he was deeply moved. He told me he knew that he had supporters around the world, but he had no idea that the support was that widespread.”
Kim has said that she’ll keep fighting, for the next Troy Davis and the one after that. And she knows so many of us will join her in this fight.
Troy Davis was not alone when he died. Thank you for standing with him.
– Patrick and the entire Change.org team
P.S. Troy’s case has brought international attention to deep, long-existing flaws in our criminal justice system. If you’re interested in becoming more involved in advocacy around the death penalty, visit Amnesty International, The Innocence Project, or the NAACP. You can also start your own campaign on this issue on Change.org.
Davis confessed to the killing…he was a piece of trash that got what he deserved. Just like everyone before him on death row, he appealed his conviction citing every injustice he can think of to try and save his ass. I want to thank the state of Georgia for ridding the world of this cop killer. I just hate that you had to pay for his sorry ass for 22 years before you did it.
9 of the witnesses who testified for the prosecution later changed or recanted their testimony. He never confessed to the police, only certain witnesses claimed he confessed to them. The bigger point is that we killed a man, despite Jimmy Carter (among many) stating “Executing Troy Davis without a real examination of potentially exonerating evidence risks taking the life of an innocent man and would be a grave miscarriage of justice.”
I’m glad psychopaths are allowed to comment here.
Justice has been done, a murderer can no longer harm those who protect us. He absolutely deserved to die. Too bad we don’t have the wood-chipper has a form of capital punishment. Ha ha ha, burn in Hell, Troy Davis!
It’s deeply inhumane and frankly unacceptable that executions continue to happen in the US, and this is an opinion I hold regardless of questions about Mr. Davis’ innocence or the severity of his crime.
I can only hope that this tragic event will inspire a closer look into this terrible practice and to the ultimate brokenness of the US’s prison and justice systems.