Demonstrators pray for McVeigh, victims' families
'Executions are wrong. It is a moral issue,' death penalty opponent says
By Patricia L. Pastore
Tribune-Star
As a crimson moon hung in the dark sky early Monday morning, death penalty protesters at Fairbanks Park slathered their hands in bright red paint, then left their handprints on a long banner.
"Don't Kill in Our Name," read the 6-by-15-foot banner prepared by the protesters, who had gathered on the eve of today's execution of Timothy McVeigh at the U.S. Penitentiary, Terre Haute.
The reddish handprints signify, "Don't spill blood in the name of every American citizen," according to Silvia Oster of Terre Haute, who claims she has been against the death penalty for at least 25 years.
"It started when I became a Unitarian Universalist,"
she said. "We believe in the inherent worth and dignity of
every person.
"Terre Haute is a wonderful place. It is a gentle place.
Don't let [McVeigh's execution] define us."
The color of the moon meant different things to different people late Sunday night and early this morning, when protesters and supporters of the death penalty joined others in marking the first federal execution since 1963.
For Peggy Harris, 26, a nursing student who admitted wanting to put the killing drugs in McVeigh's veins, the color means "there is blood on the moon."
"The blood red moon is in sympathy for the 168 women, men and children whose blood are on Timothy McVeigh's hands," Harris said.
But Mary Kahal and her husband Phillip Kahal of Cincinnati, Ohio, saw the red moon as a protest against McVeigh's execution.
"We are here to witness against the death penalty," said Mary Kahal, who carried a sign saying, "Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord."
Anderson native J.J. Jackson, a resident of Oklahoma City for the past 30 years, came to witness earthly justice for McVeigh's crime against humanity.
"I'm here because it's the right thing to do," said Jackson, who assisted the Oklahoma City Medical Examiner's office after the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building.
It was her job to notify victim's family members that their loved ones were dead, she said.
"It is a final sentence in a very long paragraph that should have ended a long time ago," Jackson said through tight lips.
"It wasn't an outside terrorist who killed these American citizens. It was one of our own people. Killing McVeigh might not stop the atrocities, but it sends a message to others who might try the same thing. This is the price you pay. Today is payday for McVeigh."
Her 77-year old mother, Florence Meade of Anderson, is firm in her belief McVeigh deserves to die, she said.
"He showed no sympathy for those who died," she said. "I had a son who was murdered, shot twice in the head while he was working at a gas station in Anderson. I believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It's in the Bible."
Justice, however, can be a fickle thing, said Sister Joan Slobig, spokesperson for the Sisters of Providence, who have opposed the death penalty for many years.
"Today, the justice system is uneven," she said as a furrow formed on her brow. "Why does one person take a life and get the death penalty, and others kill and don't get put to death?"
Other countries believe the United States is sending mixed messages with the death penalty, she said.
"Everyone is absolutely befuddled that in a civilized society we continue this practice" of putting people to death, she said. "We tout ourselves as leaders when it comes to human rights. That is kind of the pot calling the kettle black."
McVeigh's high-profile case and execution is helping people against the death penalty to get their message out, Slobig noted.
"It has helped a lot of people get a sense of how the rest of the world looks at us because of our position on this issue," she said.
As McVeigh's life ebbed away, Russell Braun and Angie Tarter said, they would be praying for the 168 victims and their family members.
"We are here for them," said Tartar, 30, who recently graduated from Indiana State University with a degree in criminology. "Everyone is so focused on McVeigh. They aren't thinking how he took 168 lives and forever changed the lives of thousands of others. We are here for them. We are praying for their families."
Death penalty opponents are not saying McVeigh is innocent of this horrendous crime. No one believes he is innocent, said Ken Bickner of Iowa City, Iowa.
"I think McVeigh is the worst person in prison today," he said hours before the execution. "This is the first time anyone has been executed in the name of all the United States citizens since 1963. The last federal execution was in Iowa As a result of that execution, we abolished the death penalty."
Those who advocate the death penalty gathered at Voorhees Park until about midnight and then they moved to a special spot on the prison grounds. That group of 10 grew by at least two, Thad and Martha Brown. The parents of four children, they decided despite their children's protests that they had to join people who agree those who commit heinous crimes should die.
"There were so few of them," Martha Brown said after joining the pro-execution group on the prison grounds, a decision prompted by a television newscast. "My husband and I decided we had to join them and add to their support. I felt I needed to do this. I had to do this for the 168 people who died in Oklahoma."
Brown said their children - two of whom are in school and two of whom are adults - told her they are concerned that someone might retaliate against their mom and dad for joining those who support McVeigh's death.
"Our kids are worried, but we'll be OK," she said. "We've never done anything like this before, but we had to do it."
Meanwhile, Slobig began preparations to lead a Circle of Silent Prayer on the prison grounds.
Those who participated were to pray for 168 minutes before McVeigh was put to sleep, she said. Then, after the prison warden announced his death, the group was to pray another minute for McVeigh.
"The American people view execution as a political issue and lose sight of the fact that it is a moral issue," Slobig said. "Executions are wrong. It is a moral issue. Jesus was executed."
As dawn broke Monday, each group prayed for different reasons.
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