White Supremist is Executed for race crime in Texas

White supremacist executed for Texas dragging By MICHAEL GRACZYK - Associated Press | AP – 2 hrs 12 mins agotweet48Share6EmailPrintRelated Content FILE - In a Monday Sept. 20, 1999 file photo, Lawrence Russell Brewer listens to …

FILE - James Byrd Jr., shown in this 1997 family photo, was tied to a truck and dragged … U.S. slideshowsLady Gaga's most outrageous outfits 15 photos - 2 hrs 58 mins agoTroy Davis nears execution in Ga. 32 photos - 11 hrs agoBono and his famous friends 18 photos - Mon, Sep 19, 2011See latest photos »HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A white supremacist gang member was executed Wednesday evening for the infamous dragging death slaying of a black man.

James Byrd Jr., 49, was chained to the back of a pickup truck and pulled whip-like to his death along a bumpy asphalt road in one of the most grisly hate crime murders in recent Texas history.

Lawrence Russell Brewer, 44, was asked if he had any final words, to which he replied: "No. I have no final statement." A single tear hung on the edge of his right eye.

He was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m., 10 minutes after the lethal drugs began flowing into his arms, both covered with intricate black tattoos.

Brewer's parents and two of Byrd's sisters were in attendance.

Appeals to the courts for Brewer were exhausted and no last-day attempts to save his life were filed.

Besides Brewer, John William King, now 36, also was convicted of capital murder and sent to death row for Byrd's death, which shocked the nation for its brutality. King's conviction and death sentence remain under appeal. A third man, Shawn Berry, 36, received a life prison term.

"One down and one to go," Billy Rowles, the retired sheriff who first investigated the horrific scene, said. "That's kind of cruel but that's reality."

Byrd's sister, Clara Taylor, said someone from her brother's family needed to be present to watch Brewer die so she was among witnesses in the death chamber.

"He had choices," she said Tuesday, referring to Brewer. "He made the wrong choices."

While the lethal injection wouldn't compare to the horrible death her brother endured, "Knowing you're going to be executed, that has to be a sobering thought," she said.

It was about 2:30 a.m. on a Sunday, June 7, 1998, when witnesses saw Byrd walking on a road not far from his home in Jasper, a town of more than 7,000 northeast of Houston. Many folks knew he lived off disability checks, couldn't afford his own car and walked where he needed to go. Another witness then saw him riding in the bed of a dark pickup.

Six hours later, the bloody mess found after daybreak was thought at first to be animal road kill. Rowles, a former Texas state trooper who had taken office as sheriff the previous year, believed it was a hit-and-run fatality but evidence didn't match up with someone caught beneath a vehicle. Body parts were scattered and the blood trail began with footprints at what appeared to be the scene of a scuffle.

"I didn't go down that road too far before I knew this was going to be a bad deal," he said at Brewer's trial.

Fingerprints taken from the headless torso identified the victim as Byrd.

Testimony showed the three men and Byrd drove out into the county and stopped along an isolated logging road. A fight broke out and the outnumbered Byrd was tied to the truck bumper with a 24-foot (7-meter) logging chain. Three miles (5 kilometers) later, what was left of his shredded remains was dumped between a black church and cemetery where the pavement ended on the remote road.

Brewer, King and Berry were in custody by the end of the next day.

The crime put Jasper under a national spotlight and lured the likes of the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Panthers, among others, to try to exploit the notoriety of the case which continues — many say unfairly — to brand Jasper more than a decade later.

King was tried first, in Jasper. Brewer's trial was moved 150 miles (240 kilometers) away to Bryan. Berry was tried back in Jasper.

At least Texas' death penalty put someone to justice.

Good riddance. Racist fuck. The way he died was too good for him.

Now lets go over the list of african americans killed for commiting "simple" (straight gun shot, no kidnapping, tortuing, or killing spree) murders and all the white criminals who where spare under the same circumstances.

Oh god I remember when this happen.

So the man has been on death row for the last 13 years then?

Well he'd probably be executed even if it wasn't a hate crime so I guess the only significance is that it was a high profile case.

They have a death penalty in Texas? :/

I... dislike that. :/ What the guy did was horrible, don't get me wrong, but still.

Normally, I'd agree; not out of any sympathy, but because there are cases of error. There's no room to go back on a death penalty case; once the person dies, they die. In my opinion, the death penalty should be reserved for terrorists, spies and traitors. In the case of violent supremacists, I'll make an exception.

edited 21st Sep '11 8:31:06 PM by tropetown

@ Zersk - Not only does Texas have a death penalty, they're the goddamned poster boys for it.

Do you seriously think that "treason" is a valid reason to execute someone? Charges of treason have a long history of being used to suppress dissent; do you really want your government to be able to execute people on such a dubious basis?

Likewise for terrorism; it's a very ambiguous and questionable term, mostly distinguishable from more conventional crimes such as murder by its use as a political buzzword.

edited 21st Sep '11 8:41:04 PM by Enthryn

Terrorists and traitors who undermine national security, yes. Unless you expect a government to allow such people to destabilize order and safety in their country? I'll agree that it can and has been misused; however, that does not mean that there isn't a valid reasoning behind it.

edited 21st Sep '11 8:47:15 PM by tropetown

Really? You didn't know Texas had the death penalty?

...!?!

Good. Kill the bastard and move on.

False Dichotomy. Someone who is convicted (in a fair trial) of terrorism or treason should be imprisoned, yes, but not executed. I oppose the death penalty in general, but even more so in this case, due to the political nature of such crimes. There's too much of a risk of someone being executed for political reasons, so the death penalty should not be an option.

edited 21st Sep '11 8:52:02 PM by Enthryn

Well I heard something involving government-allowed killing, but... >.>

And if they're still a security risk while in prison?

Death, not even from the worst monsters, should be something to be cheered on, compassion is a virtue that always must exercised.

however, compassion to the victim should always be stronger, especially when the attacker commited such monstrosity.

lets hope that this exectuion means that less pain shall be brought to the world.

That's what maximum security prisons are for. In the unlikely event that they still somehow manage to be a security risk, well, that's an acceptable risk to avoid killing someone for possibly political or otherwise unsound reasons.

edited 21st Sep '11 8:56:41 PM by Enthryn

My problem with the death penalty isn't that some people aren't scum that the world is better rid of, but that we - other human beings - are frequently not capable of determining who these people are (see: the Troy Davis case). This guy was a brutal piece of shit, so I won't be shedding any tears.

edited 21st Sep '11 8:57:58 PM by kashchei

White supremacists don't deserve to be in jail, especially because most of the time, they're still working things from the inside. And just fucking up non-white prisoners.

I mean, there's no place for them.

And what do you think "government-allowed killing" is?

...I don't know. :/

In this case, you would be spending taxpayer money on someone who has made it quite clear that they don't deserve it. In a regular death penalty case, this can be justified; however, a terrorist or traitor has revoked their right to be treated to the benefits of being a citizen. That's not to say there aren't rebels and defectors that I sympathize with; I just wouldn't expect any government to waste their time trying to protect them.

What if they were privy to a host of sensitive information? Not all the danger they pose has to be direct; they might let something dangerous slip to someone who shouldn't know it, or they might escape. On top of that, if they were especially charismatic, they might even be able to recruit less high-security prisoners to their cause, who could then in turn convert more people. Treason can be taken on a case-by-case basis; terrorism should not.

Wow, Zersk, the death penalty and the reputation of our justice system to use it is one of the less savory thing about Texas's reputation. One tasteless joke says we'd execute babies if we could. (There was a big to-do about executing a woman some years ago. But she had murdered a family or something, then had a jailhouse conversion. Though personally I feel there was a good bit of double standard because she was a woman; there wouldn't have been as big a fuss over a man who'd said he'd converted.)

Anyway, he appealed for thirteen years and was proven guilty beyond a doubt. And he was a racist fuck. Why do we care about this? Let's just forget about this guy and not give him any more attention. Save the arguments against the death penalty for those who don't deserve it.

edited 21st Sep '11 9:08:50 PM by AceofSpades

Everyone is due to be treated in accordance with their human rights and rights as a citizen. No exceptions, ever. It doesn't matter what crime someone commits; they absolutely do not forfeit those rights.

Are you suggesting that someone should be put to death for the threat they might pose if merely imprisoned? That would be punishing someone for a possible future crime, which is a clear violation of their rights.

What rights would those be specifically that you are referring to?

Enthryn, as far I'm concerned, once you've gone about violating someone else's rights by actions such as murdering them you have forfeited your own rights to the same. Now, right to adequate council and the like gives you a way to prove you didn't do so and to defend yourself. And yes, the system isn't perfect. But I have little sympathy for terrorists and murderers. Traitors... well, I'm iffy on that one, but generally they don't give a fuck who their actions hurt.