Michael Moore: Man Interviewed by Democracy Now! on Troy Davis Execution Inspired My Georgia Boycott

I felt privileged to have the opportunity to listen to this conversation between two giants, both of broadcasting and of compassion. Very moving.

Michael Moore: Man Interviewed by Democracy Now! on Troy Davis Execution Inspired My Georgia Boycott

Michael Moore: ....."Fine, then I’m going to donate whatever royalties I make on this book to The Innocence Project, which is a group who has got many people off death row. And, I’m also going to donate to a voter registration drive." There were 600,000 African Americans in the last election that were not registered to vote in Georgia. Georgia is one of these states that is making it increasingly difficult for people to register to vote, and to vote, on election day. So I will not touch any of the money that this book makes from the state of Georgia. I just don’t want anything to do with it, and I cancelled going there, to Atlanta on my book tour. I won’t go there. I will not participate. And, myself and my website guys, we’ve been talking to the African American students at Morehouse and some of the colleges down there. And there’s a number of people that are going to have a much more organized response to this with the state of Georgia. We’re going to identify those politicians and we are going to identify corporations in Georgia like Home Depot and Coca Cola and others who contribute money to these politicians that allow this death penalty to exist. More at the transcript link.

Quintessential Amy Goodman.

Filmmaker Michael Moore was a part of the global audience tuning in for Democracy Now!'s live coverage from outside the Georgia prison where death row prisoner Troy Davis was executed on September 21. Moore describes how he was inspired by one of the people Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman interviewed on the scene after news of the execution was announced. The man, who introduced himself as Wesley Boyd, immediately called for a boycott of the state of Georgia in response to Davis' execution. Moore says he then asked his publisher to recall all copies of his new book from stores in Georgia, saying, "I don’t want any commerce being done in my name in the state of Georgia." When he was told the books were already on the shelves, Moore decided to donate proceeds from the sales in the state to the Innocence Project and a voter registration drive. He also discusses his previous work on the case of a death row prisoner who shares his name, a topic he writes about in the chapter, "The Execution of Michael Moore," in his new memoir Here Comes Trouble: Stories from My Life.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re on the road in Minneapolis. Today we play the second part of my interview with one of the most famous independent filmmakers in the world, Michael Moore. For more than two decades, Michael has been one of the most politically active, provocative and successful documentary filmmakers in the business. His films include, Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine, for which he won the Academy Award, Fahrenheit 9/11, SICKO, and Capitalism: A Love Story. He has a new book out, it’s called, Here Comes Trouble: Stories From My Life. You can see part one of the interview with Michael Moore on our website at democracynow.org. After Monday’s program, I had a chance to ask Michael Moore about the execution of Troy Anthony Davis that took place on Wednesday, September 21. The state of Georgia killed Davis despite significant doubt about his guilt in the killing of a white, off-duty police officer, Mark MacPhail, in 1989. Seven of the nine non-police witnesses in the case later recanted or changed their testimony, and there was no physical evidence linking Troy Davis to the crime. Democracy Now! was there, reporting live from the death row prison grounds in Jackson, Georgia when Troy Davis was executed. Davis will be buried on Saturday in Savannah, Georgia, where he grew up. I began my interview with Michael Moore by playing a clip of Troy Davis speaking during an Amnesty International conference call in 2009. Transcript

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Oi! You Lot, Yes You Twitter. How ''Offensive'' is Killing an Innocent Man, Black or Otherwise

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Troy Davis Execution: An Angry Black Man Speaks

Gawjah Justice: Haul That Gurney in Here and Let's Kill Us a Niggrah!
by thegrowlingwolf
September 22, 2011

The White Man Teaching the Black Man a Lesson

All over the State of Gawjah today Whites are celebrating the death of Troy Davis. Davis's last words were still defending his "innocence" and wishing peace on the MEN who killed him. As most White folks know, all criminals claim they're innocent. Especially those on the many Death Rows around this great Land of the FREE and Home of the Brave! That is they claim they are innocent unless they are mentally retarded and don't even have the cognizance to even realize where they are and what they've done and what's going to happen to them.

The son and brother of Officer McPhail, the off-duty White cop the White Gawjuh justice system ruled Troy Davis killed, was present at this killing. Sitting right there up front, front row center on the killing floor--thrilled in their souls that they were getting closure--I imagine them sitting there delighting in watching this Black man die. Sentiment: "Hell, yes, that god-damn nigger killed a good White man, an officer of the law, and he definitely, guilty or not, deserved to die. We the good White people of Gawjah feel sure in our White hearts, Office McPhail is celebrating this secular victory up in Heaven at the righthand of the Savior and his Big Daddy Father, that triumvirate toasting with goblets of Heavenly firmament the good White Christians of Gawjah's elimination of this Black murderer. Why this savage doesn't even deserve to be called Black, nope, he's a niggrah pure and simple, a murdering niggrah, his black definitely the color of evil, and black is the color of all savage demons. Praise the vengeful Lord. Praising the vengeful and chastising Lord God of the blessed White race and raising shouts of hallelujah as we watch this god-damn nigger's soul being shoveled into the furnaces of Holy Hell!"

We the People of the USA live in a divided state. Union versus Confederacy. Yankees versus Rebels. States Rights (including the right to own slaves) versus Constitutional Rights.

The Republicans represent the Confederacy. The Republicans represent the Plantation system of Fascist governing. The Democrats do not any longer know what the hell they represent. It seems to the general public they also represent the Confederacy. They also represent slavery (cheap labor). They also represent the Fascist form of Corporate/Military rule.

As I'm sitting here typing this, someone here in New York City gets shot and killed every 18 hours. When you project that statistic worldwide--DEATH never takes a holiday.

Governor Rick Perry, if you believe the Death Penalty ritual of killing mostly Blacks and Latinos and poor retarded people of all races, and even women is good for the morale of vengeful Whites, is your candidate for President..... conclusion

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Troy Davis: A Testament to Barbarity

I am posting this only for reasons of posterity, another outlet, that this testament to barbarity be preserved.

TroyDavis: Eye Witness account of Troy Davis Execution
SAVANNAH, Ga. --
September 22, 2011

WSAV News 3's JoAnn Merrigan was a media monitor for Troy Davis's execution. Her responsibility was to witness the initial stages of the execution.

This is her relayed account of what happened.

Prison officials arrived to take me to the prison at 5:45pm. I arrived at the State Prison in Jackson, Georgia at 5:50pm.

At 6:02, I was taken into a waiting room where I stayed for around 4 hours with no knowledge of what was going on. Every so often, someone would come in and say the execution had been delayed.

Around 9:00pm, I went to the bathroom and heard some people talking.

Around 10:20pm, an official came and brought me out into a hallway where I was told to stop. Three men, including the warden, were walking around. Attorney General Sam Olens was also there. He walked quickly one way, then the other. Then the prison official said it was time to go around 10:25pm.

I got into a car with three attorneys from the Attorney General's office, and rode along with a caravan of cars to a building. The drive took around two minutes, and we arrived at 10:27pm.
I walked into the room and sat in the front row, about a dozen people were also in the room. The room had a window showing the execution chamber.

Two men came in, the warden and another man.

Then five guards escorted in Troy Davis and laid him down on the gurney. He appeared calm at this time.

The five guards began methodically strapping in Davis. They started with each foot first, then each knee, then each arm.

A fifth strap was laid across Davis's shoulders.

At this point, Davis picked up his head to look around the room. I was about four to five feet from the window.

Two women then came in with heart monitoring equipment and strapped it to his chest. No one in the room spoke.

The two women then put a syringe into each arm, the left first then the right. Long tubes connected the needles through two holes in the cement wall. I understand that tubes were connected to two intravenous drips containing the chemicals.

At this point, Davis raised his head for a second time to look at the room beyond the window.
Two guards then placed surgical tape around Davis's fingertips, strapping them to the gurney.
The bed was then raised to an upright angle, facing the crowd. I could see him clearly, being only four to five feet from the window.

I then moved to the back of the room. At this point, the family of Officer Mark MacPhail, including Billy MacPhail the brother, and Mark MacPhail, Jr., the son, entered the room and sat in the front row. There were also other witnesses, totaling eight people, who also sat in the front row.
Defense attorney's Jason Ewart and Thomas Ruffin came in and sat in the second row with others.

At this point, other media witnesses were brought in and they sat in the back row with me. A total of around 30 people were in the room.

About 15 minutes had passed since I first entered the room.

A microphone was turned on and the warden said, “We are here for the execution of Troy Anthony Davis with all witnesses present." He also asked that the witnesses remain silent. He then asked Davis if he had anything he wanted to say. Davis replied, "yes."

Davis said, "I want to address the members of the MacPhail family. Despite the situation we are all in, you think I’ve killed your father, your brother, your husband, I’m not the person, I’m innocent, what happened was not my fault, I did not have a gun that night, I did not shoot your family member. I’m so sorry for your loss, I really am. I hope you will finally see the truth and others will, too. To my family and supporters, thank you for your prayers and continue to pray. For those about to take my life, I forgive you. God bless you all."

The warden then read the death warrant. Davis looked out at the crowd, and though he seemed calm, it did appear he was somewhat scared.

The room was very quiet when the injections began.

First, Davis received an injection of pentobarbital, a sedative. Second, he received an injection of pancuronium bromide, a muscle relaxer. Lastly, he was injected with potassium chloride to induce cardiac arrest.

After a short amount of time, Davis yawned then closed his eyes.

They room was quiet and all I heard was my pencil moving over paper.
A woman then came in and checked his eyes, then there was a "beep." Mark MacPhail, Jr. was leaning towards the window.

The microphone was turned on again, and two doctors entered the room wearing long white coats. One doctor checked his pulse and placed a stethoscope on his chest. Then the second doctor performed the same procedure. At the end, the second doctor looked at the first and nodded his head.

The warden then said, "At 11:08 September 21st, the court ordered execution of Troy Davis was carried out in accordance with the laws of Georgia."

I was escorted out of the room and saw a black Butts County coroner’s van of outside the building.

About 30 to 35 minutes had passed by the time I entered the room, until the time Davis was pronounced dead. source

h/t http://youknowwhokilledyoudontyou.blogspot.com/

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For-Profit Company Oversaw Davis's Execution, Had Prompted Complaint for Illegal Purchase of Lethal Injection Drugs

Jesus H Christ, what a fucking cesspit of a country.

For-Profit Company Oversaw Davis's Execution, Had Prompted Complaint for Illegal Purchase of Lethal Injection Drugs

The tragic debacle that has been the Troy Davis execution has another dimension to it beyond racism, classism, and the miscarriage of justice in a flawed system. That dimension is capitalism: specifically, the corporatization of the prison-industrial complex. If you've noticed some angry tweets directed at @correcthealth in the past day, that's because "CorrectHealth" is the Orwellian-named "medical company" that, according to the ACLU, "oversees all executions in Georgia" including last night's. It is a for-profit company that stands to make a pile money off of every execution.

Furthermore, earlier this year the Southern Center for Human Rights filed this complaint against CorrectHealth due to the shady methods used to obtain the drug that is used in lethal injections. From their press release:

Today, the Southern Center for Human Rights (“SCHR”) filed a complaint with the Georgia Composite Medical Board against Carlo Anthony Musso, MD, seeking the revocation or suspension of his medical license based upon his involvement in illegally importing and distributing the drug, sodium thiopental, to be used in carrying out the death penalty.

The law, both federal and state, is clear: no person or organization may import or distribute a controlled substance without first registering with both the Georgia Board of Pharmacy and the federal Drug Enforcement Authority (DEA) of the Attorney General. The complaint filed today presents evidence that Carlo Anthony Musso, M.D., owner and operator of the Georgia-based companies CorrectHealth and Rainbow Medical Associates, had no such licenses when he imported sodium thiopental into the United States and distributed it to the departments of corrections in Kentucky and Tennessee....

Since the spring of 2010, there has been a nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental, one of three drugs commonly used by states to carry out executions. Because sodium thiopental is necessary to eliminate the pain that would otherwise be experienced by administration of the other two drugs, the shortage of sodium thiopental places the states’ ability to carry out executions in jeopardy. As a result, those states that used the drug as the critical anesthetic to carry out a sentence of death by lethal injection scrambled to find alternative sources.

The Georgia Department of Corrections (“DOC”) secured its supply from a London-based pharmaceutical supplier (Dream Pharma) that operated out of the back of a driving school. In March, 2011, the Drug Enforcement Authority (DEA) seized Georgia’s supply amid questions about how the drug was imported into the United States.

Dr. Musso’s company, CorrectHealth, also purchased and imported a supply of sodium thiopental from Dream Pharma. In addition to importing this drug, Dr. Musso sold his supply to Kentucky and Tennessee, two other states desperate to obtain the highly sought-after sodium thiopental. Just as the DEA seized the drugs purchased by the Georgia DOC, the DEA followed Dr. Musso’s unregistered sales of the illegally obtained sodium thiopental and seize the drugs purchased by Kentucky and Tennessee.

One of the reasons there's a shortage of this drug is because while its primary Stateside supplier remains low on supply, the UK has forbidden legal exports which may be used in executions. Why? They think it's inhumane--as should we. This is yet another reason not to execute our own citizens, even if it means--gasp!--another corporation turns less of a profit.

CorrectHealth's contact page is here.

Here's a video of Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz talking about the shortage of drugs and how it illuminates the fact that the death penalty in the US is a "system in chaos." Alternet

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