Troy Anthony Davis, who maintained his innocence until his last breath, was executed by the state of Georgia Wednesday night. As the world watched to see whether Davis’ final appeal for a stay of execution would be granted by the U.S. Supreme Court, Democracy Now! Democracy Now! was the only news outlet to continuously broadcast live from the prison grounds in Jackson, Georgia. During our 6-hour special report, we spoke with Davis’ supporters and family members who held all-day vigil, then heard from those who witnessed his death by lethal injection at 11:08 p.m. EDT.
This archived video of the broadcast includes interviews with Troy Davis’ sisters Martina Correia and Kim Davis, Troy Davis’ nephew De’Juan Davis Correia, NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, President of the Georgia State NAACP Ed Dubose, Chairperson of the NAACP Roslyn M. Brock, Ebenezer Baptist Church Rev. Raphael Warnock, Southern Regional Director for the Rainbow-PUSH Coalition Joe Beasley, Amnesty International USA Director Larry Cox, Amnesty International’s Death Penalty Abolition Campaign Director Laura Moye, Executive Director of Southern Center for Human Rights Sara Totonchi, Rev. Al Sharpton, hip-hop artist Big Boi, Public Policy Associate for the Southern Center for Human Rights Kathryn Hamoudah, and many others.
We also broadcast a report back from journalists, and Davis’ lawyers, who witnessed the execution. According to WSB Radio reporter John Lewis, “[Davis] said to the family [of slain police officer Mark MacPhail] that he was sorry for their loss, but also said that he did not take their son, father, brother. He said to them to dig deeper into this case, to find out the truth. And then he said to the prison staff — the ones he said, 'who are going to take my life,' — he said to them, 'may God have mercy on your souls,' and his last words were to them, 'may God bless your souls.'”