It Wasn't Until the Year 1978 That The First White Man Was Put to Death For Killing a Black Man In The State of Florida

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

I first read about this case many years ago and remember being astounded and thinking that this couldn't possibly be true but my research thus far shows that this actually is the case.

On this historical day, when a measure of justice was obtained when Minnesota police officer, Dereck Chauvin was found guilty of having murdered George Floyd, I can't help but wonder how many black men, not just in Florida, but nation-wide, have been murdered by a white person, yet the perpetrator was never brought to justice.

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https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20170824/in-first-florida-executes-white-defendant-for-killing-black-victim

RAIFORD | For the first time in 18 months, Florida carried out a death sentence, killing Mark James Asay as final punishment for two 1987 murders in Jacksonville and making Asay the first white man ever executed in the state for killing a black victim.

Asay was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. Thursday. He was 53.

The execution began at Florida State Prison after the U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, denied Asay’s final appeal. At 6:10 p.m., a curtain lifted between the death chamber and a room for witnesses. The lighting flickered, and the air-conditioning was turned off, making for an eerie quiet.

“Mr. Asay, do you have a final statement?” a guard asked.
“No, sir,” he replied. “I do not.”

“The preparation phase has ended,” the guard said. “The execution phase will begin.”
Outside, thunder rumbled.

Asay’s chest moved up and down, and then it stopped. The guard shook Asay’s shoulders, then stood back.
Eight minutes later, a doctor emerged.

The state executed Asay because a jury found him guilty of killing Robert Lee Booker and Robert McDowell minutes apart in Jacksonville’s Springfield neighborhood. The jury recommended he be put to death by a vote of 9 to 3. The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled that death sentencing system unconstitutional, and though the Florida Supreme Court now requires unanimous jury decisions, the new standard applies only to cases going back to 2002.

Asay’s attorneys said the best argument for stopping the execution would have been to say that 2002 is an arbitrary date, and because the death sentence vote wasn’t unanimous, he should be resentenced. Asay refused to let them make that argument, attorney Marty McClain said, instead asking them to argue he wasn’t guilty of murdering Booker, the black man.
When Asay was arrested, his arms bore white supremacist tattoos, and witnesses said he referred to one of the victims by the N-word.

Frank Booker, Robert Booker’s brother, said Thursday afternoon that “we’ve been waiting for this since 1987, and that’s a long time.

“I feel a lot of pressure and anxiety will be off me, and I’ll be able to continue in life, I think, a lot more peaceful because this was something that touched a lot of us really, really deep. I know he feels sorry now, but he should’ve thought about that in ’87 when he did what he did.

“He did it. All the evidence pointed that way.”

Asay’s brother and another friend who were with him the night of the killings testified that the three were drinking and looking for sex. While his brother was talking to Booker, Asay used racial slurs. He then shot Booker in the stomach and fled.

The men then hired McDowell, who was dressed as a woman and using the name Renee Torres, to perform oral sex, according to their testimony. Asay then shot and killed McDowell. One of the witnesses said Asay killed McDowell because he felt ripped off. A jailhouse informant later said Asay referred to McDowell using a derogatory word for gay men.

Continued at the link above
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[mudwhistle]

I first read about this case many years ago and remember being astounded and thinking that this couldn't possibly be true but my research thus far shows that this actually is the case.

On this historical day, when a measure of justice was obtained when Minnesota police officer, Dereck Chauvin was found guilty of having murdered George Floyd, I can't help but wonder how many black men, not just in Florida, but nation-wide, have been murdered by a white person, yet the perpetrator was never brought to justice.

​

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20170824/in-first-florida-executes-white-defendant-for-killing-black-victim

​

RAIFORD | For the first time in 18 months, Florida carried out a death sentence, killing Mark James Asay as final punishment for two 1987 murders in Jacksonville and making Asay the first white man ever executed in the state for killing a black victim.​

​

​

Asay was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. Thursday. He was 53.​

​

The execution began at Florida State Prison after the U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, denied Asay’s final appeal. At 6:10 p.m., a curtain lifted between the death chamber and a room for witnesses. The lighting flickered, and the air-conditioning was turned off, making for an eerie quiet.​

​

“Mr. Asay, do you have a final statement?” a guard asked.​

“No, sir,” he replied. “I do not.”​

​

“The preparation phase has ended,” the guard said. “The execution phase will begin.”​

Outside, thunder rumbled.​

​

Asay’s chest moved up and down, and then it stopped. The guard shook Asay’s shoulders, then stood back.​

Eight minutes later, a doctor emerged.​

​

The state executed Asay because a jury found him guilty of killing Robert Lee Booker and Robert McDowell minutes apart in Jacksonville’s Springfield neighborhood. The jury recommended he be put to death by a vote of 9 to 3. The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled that death sentencing system unconstitutional, and though the Florida Supreme Court now requires unanimous jury decisions, the new standard applies only to cases going back to 2002.​

​

Asay’s attorneys said the best argument for stopping the execution would have been to say that 2002 is an arbitrary date, and because the death sentence vote wasn’t unanimous, he should be resentenced. Asay refused to let them make that argument, attorney Marty McClain said, instead asking them to argue he wasn’t guilty of murdering Booker, the black man.​

When Asay was arrested, his arms bore white supremacist tattoos, and witnesses said he referred to one of the victims by the N-word.​

​

Frank Booker, Robert Booker’s brother, said Thursday afternoon that “we’ve been waiting for this since 1987, and that’s a long time.​

​

“I feel a lot of pressure and anxiety will be off me, and I’ll be able to continue in life, I think, a lot more peaceful because this was something that touched a lot of us really, really deep. I know he feels sorry now, but he should’ve thought about that in ’87 when he did what he did.​

​

“He did it. All the evidence pointed that way.”​

​

Asay’s brother and another friend who were with him the night of the killings testified that the three were drinking and looking for sex. While his brother was talking to Booker, Asay used racial slurs. He then shot Booker in the stomach and fled.​

​

The men then hired McDowell, who was dressed as a woman and using the name Renee Torres, to perform oral sex, according to their testimony. Asay then shot and killed McDowell. One of the witnesses said Asay killed McDowell because he felt ripped off. A jailhouse informant later said Asay referred to McDowell using a derogatory word for gay men.​

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Continued at the link above​

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Leave it up to Democrats....blacks won't be prosecuted for killing white people ever again. Maybe even given cash for it.

 

[Thoth001]

The death penalty hasn't been very popular in the US history in the first place.

The History of the Death Penalty: A Timeline

Eighteenth Century B.C. - first established death penalty laws. Eleventh Century A.D. - William the Conqueror will not allow persons to be hanged except…

deathpenaltyinfo.org