Post-9/11 hate killer Stroman executed

[integra]

Post-9/11 hate killer Stroman executed

A multiple murderer who went on the rampage after the 9/11 attacks, killing two people and shooting a Bangladesh-born US citizen in the face who he thought were Arabs, has been executed in the US state of Texas.

Mark Stroman, 41, died by lethal injection despite last-minute representations by his lawyer at the US Supreme Court.

In his final weeks Stroman's plea for clemency was backed by Rais Bhuiyan, who was shot but survived.

Bhuiyan had said that killing Stroman was "not the solution".

The execution at Huntsville prison was delayed slightly by the final legal appeals, before Stroman was taken to the death chamber.

"Even though I lay on this gurney, seconds away from my death, I am at total peace," he said.

"God bless America. God bless everyone," he said. "Let's do this damn thing."

Stroman was pronounced dead at 2053 CDT (0153 GMT).

'Hate is ignorance'

Speaking to the BBC before Stroman's execution, Mr Bhuiyan, 37, said Stroman was guilty of "hate crime", but warned that his death would not achieve anything.

"His execution will not eradicate hate crimes from this world. We will just simply lose another human life," Mr Bhuiyan said.

Stroman's execution was the eighth in Texas during 2011 so far, and came as his lawyers sought a last-minute stay at the nation's highest court.

They cited the "significant surprise" of Mr Bhuiyan's support, and argued that Stroman's path to "this violent frenzy" was not made clear by defence lawyers during earlier trials and appeals.

Stroman admitted the killings, saying he was motivated by anger at the 9/11 attacks and wanted to take revenge on Muslims - or people who resembled Muslims.

"I had some poor upbringing and I grabbed a hold of some ideas which was ignorance, you know, and hate is pure ignorance. I no longer want to be like hate, I want to be like me," he told the BBC.

 

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Mercy, not revenge

Mark Stroman killed two men in a Texas rampage against Muslims after the 9/11 attacks, but one victim who was shot in the face and survived was trying to halt his attacker's execution yesterday.

Days after the attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States, Stroman's attorney says, the then 31-year-old stone cutter "could not go to the Middle East, so he turned on those who he thought were Middle Easterners who had come to the USA."

One of the men he shot was Rais Bhuiyan, who lost an eye in the brutal violence but against all odds survived.

But the Bangladesh-born Bhuiyan is seeking mercy, not revenge. He is demanding clemency for Stroman and is set to appear in court just hours before the convict is scheduled to be put to death.

The hearing was scheduled for yesterday in the state capital Austin, where Bhuiyan has sued Texas Governor Rick Perry and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) in a bid to halt Stroman's execution.

Bhuiyan says his rights as a victim have been violated, and he wants the chance to speak with Stroman so that he can have a "healing dialogue," said a source who is working with the victim and his organisation, "World Without Hate."

"The big question is, why some victims are heard when they cry for revenge, but other victims who cry for mercy are not?" said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.

According to the TDCJ, a victim has "the right to request victim-offender mediation coordinated by the victim services division." The source says Bhuiyan has never spoken with Stroman but he has a lot of questions for the man who shot him nearly 10 years ago.

Just before 9/11 Stroman worked as a stonecutter and was a fan of the southern rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd, said his attorney Lydia Brandt during a final court appeal.

But after Stroman's sister allegedly died in the attacks, he became "emotionally overwhelmed," fed by a pain that was quickly replaced by "rage."

"He became obsessed with 'fighting back' against the Muslims who attacked America," said Brandt.

But according to Brandt, Stroman "would not know the difference between a Sikh and a Muslim, or between Arabic and Urdu."

Four days after the attacks, Stroman killed his first victim in Dallas: Waqar Hasan was a Pakistani Muslim, and Stroman shot him without asking any questions. Hasan died instantly.

On September 21, Bhuiyan found himself face to face with Stroman at a gas station where Bhuiyan was working in the Dallas area. Seriously wounded, Bhuiyan miraculously survived a gunshot wound to his face, but lost the use of one eye.

The third and final victim of Stroman's rampage was Vasudev Patel, a Hindu.

It is for Patel's death that Stroman was sentenced to capital punishment in April 2002. During his sentencing, according to images shown on CBS, Stroman did not hesitate to brandish an American flag and claim his affiliation with the Aryan Brotherhood, a group of white supremacists.

Nearly 10 years later and days before his scheduled execution in Huntsville, The New York Times interviewed a transformed Stroman.

"The hate has to stop, we are all in this world together," he told the paper in its Tuesday edition. "We need more forgiveness and understanding and less hate."

Stroman said he was touched by Bhuiyan, the immigrant he had tried to kill and who is now leading the efforts to save Stroman's life.

"Mr Rais Bhuiyan, what an inspiring soul," told the Times.

Bhuiyan, a practicing Muslim, is campaigning to stop the execution and commute Stroman's sentence to life in prison.

In the Times, Bhuiyan attributed his views to his upbringing. "My parents raised me with good morals and strong faith. They taught me to put you in others' shoes.

"Even if they hurt you, don't take revenge," he said. "Forgive them. Move on. It will bring something good to you and them."

But appeals have failed, and on June 27 the US Supreme Court refused an additional delay to Stroman's execution, which was scheduled to be carried out at 2300 GMT yesterday.

Last week Bhuiyan brought about his lawsuit in an effort to stop the execution, and the yesterday morning hearing was set to go before a federal judge in Austin.

Appearing on the verge of tears in a story aired by CBS late Monday, Bhuiyan pleaded, "Please show mercy. Please spare the life of Mark Stroman."

 

[somebozo]

Just how ignorant the American could be..they don't even know what world exist outside their city borders. Many American are ignorant about their own country. People say democracy is rule of people but what I see in america is rule of ignorant over people. Swaying public opinion with media is never too hard in democrazy!

 

[thebrownguy]

Just how ignorant the American could be..they don't even know what world exist outside their city borders. Many American are ignorant about their own country. People say democracy is rule of people but what I see in america is rule of ignorant over people. Swaying public opinion with media is never too hard in democrazy!

Well I hate to propagate stereotypes,but you do make a fair point. I recently was on a cruise ship through Baltic sea on an American cruise liner, the Princess Emerald. A huge chunk of the passengers were Amercans. Most of the people I interacted with did not seem to know there exists a world outside the US of A. Indian, Pakistanis, Persians, Arabs, they don't seem to even know the bloody difference. I met this girl at the a nightclub on the cruise. After introductions we got to talking and then danced a bit. After the dance, she goes like "You said you are from India right?". I go- "yea,I am?"
She makes a confused face and goes, "Does that make you a Sheikh?"

 

[Roybot]

Well I hate to propagate stereotypes,but you do make a fair point. I recently was on a cruise ship through Baltic sea on an American cruise liner, the Princess Emerald. A huge chunk of the passengers were Amercans. Most of the people I interacted with did not seem to know there exists a world outside the US of A. Indian, Pakistanis, Persians, Arabs, they don't seem to even know the bloody difference. I met this girl at the a nightclub on the cruise. After introductions we got to talking and then danced a bit. After the dance, she goes like "You said you are from India right?". I go- "yea,I am?"
She makes a confused face and goes, "Does that make you a Sheikh?"

Just how many Indians or Pakistanis know anything about America? Am not talking about the educated guys, talking about your average blue collar workers in India/Pakistan. What we fail to realize is that America is a wealthy country. Even if you are dumb, uneducated, as an American, you still have enough money to travel around the world and interact with people from other countries. Not the same with the expats from the sub continent, who are well educated in most of the cases. How may South Asian laborers in Dubai you think would know anything about America?

Besides the onus is on us to "interest" the Americans to learn about our country. Did the American come and ask us, hey you, learn about my country?