A victim of 9/11 hate crime now fights for his attacker's life

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Immigrant badly wounded by 'Arab Slayer' mounts long-shot bid to halt execution
Victim of 9/11 hate crime fights for attacker's life - US news - Crime & courts - msnbc.com

Days after the 9/11 terror attacks, 31-year old laborer Mark Stroman went on a shooting spree in the Dallas area. In a drug-fueled mission of revenge, he killed two South Asian immigrants and shot another — Rais Bhuiyan — in the face at close range, blinding him in one eye.

Shortly after his arrest, Stroman boasted of his role as "Arab Slayer."

Now, as Stroman faces imminent execution in Texas, an unlikely champion is fighting to save his life: Bhuiyan, who spent years recovering from the wounds he suffered in the attack.

"I've had many years to grow spiritually," said Bhuiyan, a Muslim who immigrated to the U.S. from Bangladesh and now works as technology professional in Dallas. "I'm trying to do my best not to allow the loss of another human life. I'll knock on every door possible."

 

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Stroman executed...

Texas inmate executed despite plea from victim to spare his life
Thu Jul 21 2011 - A Texas inmate was executed Wednesday for killing a Dallas-area convenience store clerk during a shooting spree that he claimed was retaliation for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Mark Stroman, 41, said hate in the world needed to end and asked for God’s grace shortly before the fatal drugs began flowing into his arms at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit. He was pronounced dead at 8:53 p.m., less than an hour after his final court appeal was rejected. Stroman claimed the shooting spree that killed two men and injured a third in late 2001 targeted people from the Middle East, though all three victims were from South Asia. It was the death of 49-year-old Vasudev Patel, from India, that put Stroman on death row.

The lone survivor, Rais Bhuiyan, unsuccessfully sued to stop the execution, saying his religious beliefs as a Muslim told him to forgive Stroman. The courts denied his requests. Stroman’s execution was the eighth this year in Texas. At least eight other inmates in the nation’s busiest death penalty state have execution dates in the coming weeks.

From inside the death chamber, Stroman looked at five friends watching through a window and told them he loved them. “Even though I lay on this gurney, seconds away from my death, I am at total peace,” he said. He called himself “still a proud American, Texas loud, Texas proud.”

“God bless America. God bless everyone,” he added, then turned his head to the warden and said: “Let’s do this damn thing.” Feeling the drugs beginning to take effect, he said, he began a countdown. “One, two,” he said, slightly gasping. “There it goes.” Eleven minutes later, he was dead.

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