But where was the NAACP's opposition to the death penalty in 2000? The organization ran an ad during the 2000 presidential campaign of then-Gov. George W. Bush. The ad -- with a voiceover by the daughter of James Byrd, the man dragged to death by three men in Jasper, Texas -- attacked Mr. Bush for not passing enhanced hate-crime legislation. Bird's daughter, in a dramatic voice, said, "[I]t was like my father was killed all over again." But two of the three men convicted of killing Byrd had already received death sentences. The third, who said he tried to stop the murder, was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole.
The NAACP ad, in essence, says Byrd's killers should have been punished more harshly. So apparently white bigots deserve the death penalty, but a black multimurderer who founded a street gang does not. All clear now?
Williams claimed redemption, but refused to accept responsibility for murdering four innocent people. Williams shot Albert Owens, who worked at a 7-Eleven, twice in the back, after Owens pleaded for his life. Williams, 11 days later, gunned down the owners of a small motel, a family of three. |
