president barack obama on friday weighed in on the botched execution which took place earlier this week in oklahoma. "what happened in oklahoma is deeply troubling," obama said during a news conference at the white house.
clayton lockett was convicted of murder and numerous other charges after he and his accomplices attacked and sexually assaulted two teenage girls about 15 years ago. he was scheduled to be killed by lethal injection tuesday night. but the execution was halted after the vein used to insert the drugs collapsed. witnesses said lockett appeared to be in pain, and died of a heart attack shortly after.
obama said he believes there are certain crimes warranting the death penalty, including mass killings or the killing of children. yet, the way lockett died underscored his concerns about the death penalty. obama said, "this situation in oklahoma i think just highlights some of the significant problems there." he' also spoke about individuals sent to death row who later are found innocent.
the president said he would talk with attorney general eric holder and other officials to see what steps have been taken to deal with these problems. obama's comments, his first public remarks on the botched execution, came in response to a question during a news conference with german chancellor angela merkel in the rose garden.
earlier in the week, jay carney, the white house press secretary, said the execution had not been carried out humanely. the botched execution of lockett has also drawn significant criticism from death penalty opponents - as well as from the human rights office of the united nations, which opposes capital punishment.
i am
- mark j. tuggle
- harlem, usa
- same-gender-loving contemporary descendant of enslaved africans. community activist, feminist, health educator, independent filmmaker, mentor, playwright, poet & spiritual being. featured at, in & on africana.com, afrikan poetry theatre, angel herald, bejata dot com, bet tonight with tavis smiley, blacklight online, black noir, brooklyn moon cafe, gmhc's barbershop, klmo-fm, lgbt community services center, longmoor productions, nuyorican poets cafe, our corner, poz, pulse, rolling out new york, rush arts gallery, saint veronica's church, schomburg center for research in black culture, sexplorations, the citizen, the new york times, the soundz bar, the trenton times, the village voice, upn news, uzuri, venus, vibe, wbai-fm, wnyc-fm & wqht-fm. volunteered with adodi, bailey house, inc., black men's xchange-new york, colorofchange.org, drug policy alliance, east harlem tutorial program, imagenation film & music festival, presente.org, save darfur coalition, the enough project, the osborne association, the sledge group & your black world. worked on films with maurice jamal & heather murphy. writing student of phil bertelsen & ed bullins. mjt975@msn.com.
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