heraldsun.com: 300 march in Raleigh to protest dea...300
march in Raleigh to protest death penalty
By AARON BEARD : Associated Press Writer Oct 19, 2001
: 5:36 pm ET
RALEIGH -- About 300 people gathered in front of
Central Prison urging lawmakers Friday to abolish the
death penalty, calling it "cruel and unusual
punishment" and saying innocent people could be
executed.
"There are people on the other side of those
(prison) windows who thank you for being here,"
said Stephen Dear of People of Faith Against The Death
Penalty.
Many of those who attended wore T-shirts and carried
signs reading "Don't kill for me" or
"Abolish the death penalty." Others carried
Bibles or American flags. As they marched toward the
prison, they chanted for immediate abolition of the
death penalty.
The march was held in conjunction with the annual
conference of the National Coalition Against the Death
Penalty. Protesters also planned to march to the General
Assembly, the state Capitol, the Governor's Mansion and
the state Supreme Court.
Actor Danny Glover was scheduled to attend the
protest, but was unable to fly in from Oakland in time,
organizers said.
Raleigh resident Lee Churchill, who said she often
protests on the night of an execution, said she started
questioning the death penalty more as DNA evidence was
used to exonerate convicted criminals.
"It's one thing to be innocent and sitting in
jail trying to fight for your innocence," said
Churchill, who sat on the edge of the brick Central
Prison sign while holding an American flag and a protest
sign. "It's another thing having to give your life
up knowing your innocence."
Ari Kohen, a Duke University graduate student,
carried a sign featuring a picture of Ronald Wayne Frye,
who was executed in August. The photo of Frye was taken
when he was 8 years old, showing bullwhip marks on his
body and indicating abuse.
Kohen, who worked with Amnesty International before
moving to Durham in 1999, visited with Frye each week
from January until August. He referred to Frye as
"my friend Ronnie."
Kohen cited reports that Frye's attorney during the
sentencing phase, Thomas Portwood, admitted he drank up
to 12 shots of rum a night during the proceedings,
affecting the quality of his defense.
"I lived in Michigan before where we didn't have
the death penalty, so it wasn't a concern," Kohen
said. "When you move here and start paying taxes
here and realize that some of the money you're putting
into the state is going to kill people, it makes you
stand up and say something."
The rally also featured religious leaders and family
members of death row inmates.
"I know if he were here, he'd say, 'Thank
God,"' said Fransina Norwood, whose son, Lorenza D.
Norwood, has been on death row since 1994 for
first-degree murder.
Bill Pelke, founder of "Journey of Hope ... From
Violence to Healing", an anti-death penalty group
made up of murder victims' family members, said
compassion, not revenge, was the answer.
"We live in a great country," he said.
"It'll be a better country when we stop killing our
own citizens."
