“The state of Texas executed Gary Graham by lethal injection Thursday for a 1981 murder of a man outside a Houston grocery store — a murder Graham insisted he didn’t commit.
The execution came after a federal judge rejected a civil suit filed at the last minute by Graham’s attorneys against the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Graham’s attorneys did not appeal that ruling.”
I just watched part of the press conference outside the prison. Mike Graczyk of Assoc. Press, and a reporter from Fox News (whose name unfortunately I didn’t catch) were witnesses, and described what they saw and heard. Here are some selected quotes I jotted down:
Graczyk: It was obvious from the way he looked that he had put up a struggle. He was restrained with black velcro. He was covered for the most part with sheets. I didn’t see, though some of my colleagues did see that he was handcuffed to the gurney. He claimed that he was being murdered, and he said to the family that he did not kill Bobby Lambert.
FOX News reporter: He said that Martin Luther King and Malcom X stood up and died for what was just. He said that this murder has to be avenged. He said, “I die fighting for what I believe in. The truth will come out.”
Graczyk: He urged that they take his case to an international court. And he said, “You can kill a revolutionary, but you cannot stop a revolution.” He said that there are tapes available depicting his abuse by prison officials, and said that he had been sprayed with pepper spray.
FOX News reporter: He said, “This is nothing more simple than murder. State sanctioned murder in America. This is what happens to black men in America.”
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