OK Plans Double Lynching April 29; Botched Execution

Update: *Condemned black man tortured with mystery drugs in Oklahoma's death chamber.* Second execution that was planned for April 29 was postponed. "Lockett was writhing on the gurney and shaking uncontrollably . . . Robert Patton, the director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, halted Lockett's execution about 20 minutes after the first drug was administered." Lockett died later of heart failure.
http://www.wfmj.com/story/25382850/okla-halts-execution-after-botching-drug-delivery

Rather than stopping after 20 minutes, according to an AP reporter in a story by NPR, it was stopped after 34 minutes. 

"According to the AP reporter on the scene, about 34 minutes after the execution was scheduled to begin, Lockett was still conscious.

"He was lifting [his] head at [7:39 p.m. ET.] and he was still alive and DOC closed [the] curtain and stopped it," Cary Aspinwall tweets.

At 8:06 p.m. ET., more than an hour after the execution was scheduled to begin, Lockett died of a massive heart attack.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/04/29/308081252/oklahoma-poised-to-use-new-drug-mixture-in-double-execution

This is the worst slaughter since the Tulsa Wall Street Riot in 1921.  An estimated 10,000 blacks were left homeless, and 35 city blocks composed of 1,256 residences were destroyed by fire. Estimates of black fatalities have been up to about 300. (Wikipedia)

This photo combo of images provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Clayton Lockett, left, and Charles Warner. Lockett and Warner, two death-row inmates who want to know the source of drugs that will be used to execute them, have placed Oklahoma’s two highest courts at odds and prompted aggravated members of the Legislature to call for the impeachment of Oklahoma Supreme Court justices.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/After-court-drama-Oklahoma-to-have-2-executions-5426209.php 

Message from National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Tomorrow (April 29, 2014), the state of Oklahoma is set to carry out the first double execution in nearly 80 years. Charles Warner and Clayton Lockett are scheduled to be executed despite an extended legal and political tussle around the constitutionality of the state’s lethal injection procedure that still has not been adequately resolved. 

If this news leaves you feeling as outraged as I feel, I encourage you to make your voice heard and share why you believe the death penalty is wrong. Only by speaking out will we be able to demonstrate the size and diversity of the community of people who believe the death penalty is wrong.

This case has changed rapidly over the past week, so in case you’re behind, here’s a quick refresher on how things have unfolded in Oklahoma:

~Oklahoma Courts originally issued stays of execution for the condemned prisoners, overriding the State’s position that it could keep the drugs and their source a secret from the prisoners and the public.
~Lawmakers in Oklahoma responded by seeking to impeach five members of the State Supreme Court.
~Governor Fallin issued an Executive Order to override the Supreme Court ruling.
Fallin’s actions became moot when the Court reversed itself and lifted the stay.
~The effort to impeach the Oklahoma Justices continues.

What we see here is an attachment to the death penalty that has moved to the extreme. Basic principles of good government including government transparency and public accountability, let alone the Constitution, have been trampled underfoot.

Ironically, these desperate and disturbing attempts to maintain the death penalty in Oklahoma may well be its undoing.

As more people confront the ugly reality of this practice, more will be moved to stand up and get involved. 90 million Americans believe that the death penalty is wrong, unfair and must end. They’re energized, they’re engaged, and they’re ready to put an end to the death penalty, sooner rather than later.

Are you one of the 90 million strong who believes the death penalty is wrong? Join us. Share your story today at NCADP.tumblr.com.

Sincerely,
Diann Rust-Tierney
Executive Director

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
(link to NCADP at Facebook)

Paragraph 1 repeated: Update: *Condemned black man tortured with mystery drugs in Oklahoma's death chamber.* Second execution that was planned for April 29 was postponed. "Lockett was writhing on the gurney and shaking uncontrollably . . . Robert Patton, the director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, halted Lockett's execution about 20 minutes after the first drug was administered." Lockett died later of heart failure.
http://www.wfmj.com/story/25382850/okla-halts-execution-after-botching-drug-delivery

Published as a public service by
Mary Neal, director of
~Davis/MacPhail Truth Committee
~Dog Justice for Mentally Ill

~Human Rights for Prisoners March
~Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill

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