Coverage from PressTV
The recent execution of Troy Davis, a black man convicted of murdering a white policeman, is reminiscent of the "terrible history" of "slavery and lynching of the black people," says Debra Sweet, director of World Can’t Wait.
She says African-Americans and Latinos are disproportionately subject to death penalty and incarceration in the United States.
"If you look at the 2.3 million people incarcerated, mass incarceration of black and Latino people in this country, the death penalty has always been disproportionately carried out on black men," Debra Sweet told Press TV’s U.S. Desk on Sunday.
The 42-year-old Davis was put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday in the state of Georgia. Davis maintained his innocence till the very end of his life. Seven of the nine witnesses at his trial recanted their original testimony. The witnesses have presented sworn affidavits stating that the police pressured or coerced them into testifying against Davis. However Georgia rejected his appeal for a retrial.
"Whenever a policeman dies in this country somebody usually dies and it’s very often a black person whether that person was connected or not," Sweet noted.
"And in this case, of course we know that Troy Anthony Davis was innocent," she said.
She concluded, "It was unconscionable for the government to kill him and yet they did. It’s just an outrage."