Rais Bhuiyan, a devout Muslim who emigrated from Bangladesh to the United States, is one of the victims of a white supremacist who went on a "9/11 revenge" killing spree and murdered two people, one of whom was Hindu.
At left, Mr. Bhuiyan after he was shot.
CNN has more. Mark Anthony Stroman shot all of his victims while they were working at gas stations and convenience stores in Dallas, Texas. Unless there is an intervention, the still-unrepentant killer will be put to death by the state of Texas on July 20.
But Bhuiyan believes that the man who shot him should not be killed, and has created the worldwithouthate.org project to urge Texas to spare his life.
From Bhuiyan's website:
It was Friday 12:30pm, September 21, 2001. A man with a gun entered the gas station where I was working. He asked me, "Where are you from?" The question seemed strange to ask during a robbery, which certainly this was -- the man wore a bandana, sunglasses and a baseball cap, and aimed the gun directly at my face as I stood over the gas station register. "Excuse me?" I asked. As soon as I spoke I felt the sensation of a million bees stinging my face, and then heard an explosion. Images of my mother, my father, my siblings and my fiancé appeared before my eyes, and then, a graveyard. I didn't know if I were still alive. I looked down at the floor and saw blood pouring like an open faucet from the side of my head. Frantically, I placed both hands on my face, thinking I had to keep my brains from spilling out. I heard myself screaming, "Mom!" The gunman was still standing there. I thought, "If I don't pretend I'm dead, he'll shoot me again."NPR had an earlier story here. Bhuiyan wrote an op-ed in the Dallas Morning News, here. The paper's editor wrote more here. Related item at ACLU.org here.
Sounds like a murderer begging for the death penalty to me.
Nice to hear Rais Bhuiyan can find it in his heart to forgive his would-be murderer, but really it is none of his business.
He was not the one murdered.
And, once a man is a convicted murderer, it is not up to the family of the victim, it is not up to criminal-rights organizations, compassionate Christians, Buddhists, Muslims or anyone else. It is up to the law, and the law says this man should be put to death.
Nice to hear Rais Bhuiyan can find it in his heart to forgive his would-be murderer, but really it is none of his business.
He was not the one murdered.
And, once a man is a convicted murderer, it is not up to the family of the victim, it is not up to criminal-rights organizations, compassionate Christians, Buddhists, Muslims or anyone else. It is up to the law, and the law says this man should be put to death.
11 comments:
Pastorius,
Well, no matter what happens, I'm glad that the people who committed this crime will be punished, even if they are not put to death.
I appreciate the sentiments of the survivor. However, the crime was not against only the victims and their families. The crime was against the State of Texas which won a guilty verdict and secured the appropriate punishment.
The survivor claims that Gov. Perry infringed on his rights by denying him an opportunity to mediate the matter with the convicted murderer. However, he has no standing to mediate a crime which was committed against the laws of the State of Texas. This is not civil action meant to redress the wrong committed personally against the survivor.
I am sure the survivor is a good man, but he misunderstands our criminal justice system if he thinks he is entitled to mediate this matter.
Anonymous,
I agree.
Damien,
I agree with you too.
Pastorius,
A muslim tried to take control of a bus on this bridge:
http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/ccaetano/ccaetano0801/ccaetano080100468/2426920-photo-of-a-big-bridge-over-tagus-river-in-lisbon-portugal.jpg
The muslim stabbed the bus driver who opened the door for the passengers to escape.
http://www.dn.pt/inicio/portugal/interior.aspx?content_id=1911571&seccao=Sul
(Google translator)
Super Samson,
I don't get what not being white has to do with whether an individual human being can "get" Western Culture.
My wife and her family are non-white. In fact, they are pretty dark brown. And, they get America better than I do, and certainly better than my friends do, in most ways.
SuperSamson,
The reason I believe the death penalty is appropriate in the case of certain murders is because
1) the person murdered is not here to forgive - anyone else's forgiveness is the height of folly/bullshit
2) there are certain types of individuals who, by their deeds, show that they are irredeemable, or if they are not then, they are not worth the trouble, in the sense that the amount of time, effort and money we would have to put into them on the slight chance that they might redeem themselves is a foolish waste.
Pedophiles do not get better.
Neither do serial killers.
Past that, I believe the State has laws, and the laws ought to be followed. I believe that law is what separates of from chaos.
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