Thursday 22 September 2011

Update: Troy Davis Executed; Russell, Ice-T, Chuck D. More Comment

A last-minute appeal to spare the life of Troy Davis was denied by the United States Supreme Court tonight (September 21), after his scheduled 7:00 PM execution was temporarily delayed.

The delay gave Davis's supporters hope that his life might be spared due to testimony that had been recanted by a number of witnesses, who originally testified in the case.

"The incident that night was not my fault I did not have a gun," Troy Davis said as he was being executed, maintaining his innocence until the end.

"Look deeper into the case so you can really find the truth...I was not responsible for what happened that night," Troy Davis said in the death chamber.

He apologized for their loss and urged MacPhail's family to continue to investigate the crime.

His last words were to those who were about to give him the lethal injection:

"To the people who are about to take my life, may God have mercy on your souls and may God bless your souls," Davis stated.

Davis, 42, who was strapped to a gurney, was then given a lethal injection.

He was pronounced dead at 11:08.

Davis' received a temporary halt of execution today, after massive protests erupted over his planned death by lethal injection, for allegedly murdering a police officer over 20 years ago.

Troy Davis was executed for the 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail, who was working as a security guard attempting to aid a homeless man, whom prosecutors accused Davis of bashing with a handgun during an argument over a beer.

Witnesses placed Davis at the crime scene, and some identified him as the trigger man, but over the years several have recanted their accounts, while others have claimed that a man that was with Davis that night, told people he committed the murder.

Over 1,000,000 people had signed a petition to prevent Davis's execution, and he is also garnered support from former United States president Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, former FBI director William Sessions and others.

The United States Supreme Court granted Troy Davis a stay of execution in the 11th hour, drawing praise from supporters, and criticism from those who felt Davis should have been executed.

Thousands of protesters, including Outkast's Big Boi and rapper/associate killer Mike who were among the protesters attempting to halt Davis' execution earlier today.

“I’m not here to say who is innocent or who is guilty, but if you’re going to execute a man you need to make sure he is 100 percent guilty,” Big Boi told the Atlanta Journal Constitution prior to Davis' execution. “There is too much doubt.”

Appeals by Troy Davis's lawyers had been dismissed by state and federal judges, resulting in protests across the country, from activists who claimed there was enough reasonable doubt.

A number of rappers chimed in on Troy Davis' stay of execution.

"You can't beat Jesus Christ, he got granted a stay!!!!!!!!!" Big Boi tweeted.

"May God be with Troy Davis!!!!" Cash Money/Young Money President Mack Maine tweeted.

Public Enemy's Chuck D. also expressed his thoughts on the matter.

"Your nation again at it's historical work," Chuck D. tweeted. "A life held within the hands of a very few WTF?"

"REST IN POWER AND IN PEACE #TROY DAVIS!!! BLESSINGS 2 UR FAMILY AS WELL," Busta Rhymes tweeted.

"I think executions should be broadcast live on television," Russell Simmons tweeted. "Let us see the barbarianism we've sanctioned."

"Troy Davis was executed six minutes ago...Wow. The American Justice System. SMH," Ice-T tweeted about the somber event.

Despite his support from the hip-hop community and millions of others around the world from all walks of life, Mark MacPhail's widow denied Troy Davis' innocence in the murder.

"He has had ample time to prove his innocence," MacPhail's widow,Joan MacPhail-Harris, said. "And he is not innocent."

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