Protesters to Call Out Lame Duck President Executing Black Muslim Prisoner Tonight
“President Trump is already the most-executing president since the 1950’s, so he’s got his record as the biggest and the best. No further executions are necessary.”
For Immediate Release
November 19, 2020
Contact: Allison Cohen
allison@deathpenaltyaction.org
513–787–9399
Death Penalty Abolitionists Stream Live Protests Nationwide
Link to Death Penalty Action Facebook Page.
Link to Terre Haute Death Penalty Resistance Facebook Page.
Today Death Penalty Action (DPA) will safely hold an in-person vigil to protest the execution of Orlando Hall at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C. from 5:30pm to 6:30pm. DPA is part of the Terre Haute Death Penalty Resistance network, which will be protesting outside of the federal death house at Terre Haute. DPA will also sponsor a concurrent virtual vigil featuring allies and partner organizations via Zoom and broadcast via Facebook Live.
“Hundreds of people will gather virtually and across the country in local vigils,” said Abraham Bonowitz, director of Death Penalty Action. “There’s no reason tonight’s execution should go forward. We can be safe from dangerous individuals and hold them accountable to their crimes without executions. It’s what we do in the vast majority of cases.”
No federal executions had taken place since 2003 when federal executions resumed in July under President Trump’s administration. There were seven executions within 11 weeks, a number equal to all of the executions carried out in the entire eight year term of President Harry Truman.
“President Trump is already the most-executing president since the 1950’s, so he’s got his record as the biggest and the best,” said Bonowitz. “No further executions are necessary.”
Orlando Hall’s execution on November 19th would make him the eighth individual to be executed this year. This will mark the first execution under a lame duck president since 1889 with Grover Cleveland, 131 years ago. These executions have been carried out in the midst of a growing spike of COVID-19 even as courts or governors in all states with pending executions granted reprieves, citing health concerns related to the pandemic.
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