Is James Byrds family as vocal about the death of his killer...

[Joe the Revelator]

As some of the McPhail family SEEMS to be over Troy Davis' potential Execution?

Most victims families are and maybe I would have to be the family member of a victim to understand, but the Mcphail's seem overly vocal.



Edited to remove some of the angrier verbiage.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

1. I read on my phone during lunch that the son wants the killer spared

Stating one killing doesn't make up for another.

As brave as it is heart rending

[Union Scribe]

2. Not cool.

Trash the system, which is supposed to be impartial, but leave the victim's family out of it. Questioning them from a detached position is more than slightly disgusting.

[Joe the Revelator]

3. It's plenty cool...they lobbied the clemency board to not grant a pardon.

They are as culpable as the prosecutor at the very least.

[Union Scribe]

7. So? You have no right to judge whatever they feel.

I mean, it must be nice to sit where you are and pass condemnation onto people whose shoes I hope you or I or anyone reading this won't ever have to walk in, but the fact is it isn't necessary or right to piss on them. Attack the system, not people who are in a cloud of grief we cannot understand.

[Joe the Revelator]

8. That's a cop out. Being sad does not make being irrational ok....

......they hold more power to stop this execution then 100 of us on Du. They choose to lobby the clemency board to continue with the execution. They are not above being questioned.

[Union Scribe]

10. I think having someone close to you brutally murdered does more than make you "sad"

You know that lack of empathy and compassion everyone is talking about? It apparently isn't just for judges anymore.

[Joe the Revelator]

14. I would hope, that if I was in this situation, I would let the system play out, and not make

Mean spirited comments to the press. I would hope that I wouldn't be so blinded by grief that I would abandon all rational thought. And I hope that I wouldn't find myself taking joy in the death another. I don't think that I'd want to watch this man die from the front row, as has been reported that this family wants to do. Finally, I hope that I would find a more cathartic way to deal with my grief.

[Joe the Revelator]

5. Plus, the Mcphail family has been all over the media begging the state the kill this man...

...that makes them fair game.

[eShirl]

4. Wow.

[Riftaxe]

6. That is some pretty sick stuff there

I think you probably should go seek professional help.

That is unless your a defense lawyer, but even then it is pretty sick to blame the victims.

[Joe the Revelator]

9. I'm not blaming the victims, I'm saying the reaction is disgusting.....

.....you're saying it ok to take joy in the death of someone else? Maybe it's not me that needs help.

[EFerrari]

11. McPhail grandson on record against the execution.

The wife and the daughter will not attend.

[Joe the Revelator]

16. According to this, his widow is attending.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wabe/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1854292/Atlanta./McPhail.Family.'Troy.Is.Not.Innocent'

[EFerrari]

19. I can't get into Amy's site to check the transcript for this am

as she's broadcasting from Jackson and her site is swamped right now.

I could never understand the kind of blood lust that would make a family cheer an execution. It doesn't bring your loved one back. It's just that same thing, all over again.

[Joe the Revelator]

22. Agreed...let me know if you find something on amy's site.

[EFerrari]

24. She's extended this broadcast for another hour.

I will go back and look then.

[EFerrari]

38. The mother:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1982560

[slackmaster]

12. Where did you get this information, Joe?

I'm still in my office and working here on the West Coast.

[Joe the Revelator]

15. CNN is what inspired this thread...

....they had a comment from the family regarding the stay that they hoped the execution would continue without delay.

[VenusRising]

13. My uncle was murdered and his killer was executed.

I am as against it now as I was then, and there was clear evidence this man murdered my family member.

I would have felt even worse if the man had been innocent because he would have been murdered and taken from his family the way my uncle was taken from ours. There are no winners. There is no closure. It is state sanctioned vengeance killing.

[Kerrytravelers]

17. I'm sorry you had to go through this.

Mr. kt, my parents and I all have it stated directly in our will that the DP is never to be used in the event we are murder victims. We never want our names used in the DP. I would be very clear on this in my Victim's Statement if I had to.

[VenusRising]

18. I applaud you for that.

I will be sure to do the same when I make out mine.

:hug:

[PeaceNikki]

20. It was just reported that Byrd's family vocally opposed Brewer's execution.

One recorded an album about it.

[Joe the Revelator]

23. Well...there you go.

Thanks for the info.

[RZM]

21. It probably only seems like they are more vocal because there is so much coverage

The sentence in the Davis case is controversial. The sentence in the Byrd case is not.

Therefore every reporter and their brother is looking to get a statement from the Mcphail family and every news editor producing a story on it wants to get footage of their reaction to all of this.

Probably a lot of this 'vocality' is material from the same few interviews being used over and over as every outlet reports on this. Sort of like how we still see that same footage of Bin Laden during the Soviet-Afghan war in stories about Al-Qaida.

[alarimer]

25. What disturbs me is the weight the opinion of a victim's family is given in all these cases.

They should have no say whatsoever, since they are by definition incapable of being objective. They should not be allowed to testify during sentencing or anything.

[Joe the Revelator]

29. Agree 100%....It's theater at its worst

[NaturalHigh]

26. That's a really crappy post.

I hope you never have to go through what this family has experienced and then be judged by some anonymous internet blowhard.

[Joe the Revelator]

28. I am truly sorry that you think it is normal behavior for people to lobby for the death of a man....

...because they have obtained victim status. I think it's sick, especially in this care.

[NaturalHigh]

30. I don't really know what should be considered "normal"...

for someone who has had a loved one murdered. Hiding behind an anonymous internet user name to bash the victim's family, though, is at least as sick.

[Joe the Revelator]

32. What kind of bullshit is that statement? We bash people all day on here...

...how is this overly vengeful family any different?

[NaturalHigh]

33. Uh, maybe because they are still suffering from having a family member murdered.

[Joe the Revelator]

34. So now they have possible blood on their hands as well....

because of their need for fresh blood. You don't see how insane that is!?

[NaturalHigh]

35. No, I don't see any insanity or evil in the victim's family.

Only unimaginable suffering for nearly a quarter of a century.

[Joe the Revelator]

36. Then you're blind.

Honestly, just talking to you, I don't understand how you can have this view. If Troy Davis was truly innocent, would it now be ok for his family to want to kill a member of the McPhail family for lobbying the clemency board to kill Davis to help quench their anger? Would that be an ok reaction?

[NaturalHigh]

37. Maybe I am blind...

I've been called worse. Think about it though...if you can't understand how I feel, how can you possibly understand the emotions of the victim's family?

[Joe the Revelator]

39. Something are so irrational that they are beyond understanding.

[malaise]

27. Some folks live for vengeance

It's that simple

[Joe the Revelator]

31. The McPhails smiled as they left the witness chamber

Even after they didn't get their death bed confession, and in fact got the exact opposite.

[iris27]

40. Several of Byrd's family members have said they wished his killer would have gotten life in prison

without parole, rather than the death sentence.

"I have forgiven Lawrence Brewer because in order for me to hate him, that's exactly what happened to my dad," Byrd's daughter Renee Mullins said.

"We forgave him," Boatner (Byrd's sister) said. "We didn't convict him."

...


"I don't want him to die because it's easy," Mullins said. "All he's going to do is go to sleep. My father didn't have that choice to go to sleep."


http://www.ktre.com/story/15519578/james-byrd-jrs-family-speaks-out-as-his-killer-is-executed