That's the title of an editorial in today's Dallas Morning News.
What is justice for the victims of serial shooter Mark Stroman? The only survivor of Stroman’s murderous, hate-infused spree in Dallas nearly 10 years ago says justice means the chance to meet and, possibly, reconcile with the man who tried to take his life.
Rais Bhuiyan ought to get that chance. Stroman is set for execution in Huntsville Wednesday and has probably run out of appeals.
But Bhuiyan has gone to court seeking an extraordinary order to stay the execution until he can enjoy his right under state law for victim-offender mediation.
And:
Stroman appears to have accepted responsibility for the killings, at least in entries on a blog that supporters help him maintain. His motives and level of remorse are fair game, and people have every right and reason for skepticism.
Bhuiyan has every right and reason to meet with Stroman and judge for himself.
Rais Bhuiyan's website is World Without Hate.
Today's New York Times carries a Q&A, "The Hated and the Hater, Both Touched by Crime," conducted by Timothy Williams.
Q Mr. Stroman has admitted trying to kill you. Why are you trying to save his life?
A I was raised very well by my parents and teachers. They raised me with good morals and strong faith. They taught me to put yourself in others’ shoes. Even if they hurt you, don’t take revenge. Forgive them. Move on. It will bring something good to you and them. My Islamic faith teaches me this too. He said he did this as an act of war and a lot of Americans wanted to do it but he had the courage to do it — to shoot Muslims. After it happened I was just simply struggling to survive in this country. I decided that forgiveness was not enough. That what he did was out of ignorance. I decided I had to do something to save this person’s life. That killing someone in Dallas is not an answer for what happened on Sept. 11.
Q If you had the chance to meet Mr. Stroman, what would you say to him?
A I requested a meeting with Mr. Stroman. I’m eagerly awaiting to see him in person and exchange ideas. I would talk about love and compassion. We all make mistakes. He’s another human being, like me. Hate the sin, not the sinner. It’s very important that I meet him to tell him I feel for him and I strongly believe he should get a second chance. That I never hated the U.S. He could educate a lot of people. Thinking about what is going to happen makes me very emotional. I can’t sleep. Once I go to bed I feel there is another person that I know who is in his bed thinking about what is going to happen to him — that he is going to be tied to a bed and killed. It makes me very emotional and very sad and makes me want to do more.
CBS News posts, "Victim pleads for Texas death row inmate's life," by Don Teague.
Mark Stroman doesn't expect the pleas for clemency to spare his life, but says when he is executed here in Texas, he'll die a changed man.
"I've come from a person with hate embedded into him into a person with a lot of love and understanding for all races," Stroman says.
Bhuiyan says that response is the point of his pleas.
"We have to break the cycle of this hate and violence," Bhuiyan says.
Bhuiyan is now suing Texas, claiming his rights as a victim were ignored. It's his last chance to stop the execution of the man who tried to kill him.
"Texas death row killer forgiven by shooting victim," is the BBC News report filed by Alastair Leithead.
"What Mark Stroman did was a hate crime, and hate crimes come from ignorance," said Rais Bhuiyan, 37, the only man to survive the shooting.
"His execution will not eradicate hate crimes from this world, we will just simply lose another human life."
And:
Rais Bhuyian is a Muslim, and on what he feared was his deathbed, he promised Allah he would make a pilgrimage to the Hajj in Mecca. There he thought more deeply about what had happened and what he wanted to do.
"This campaign is all about passion, forgiveness, tolerance and healing. We should not stay in the past, we must move forward," he said.
"If I can forgive my offender who tried to take my life, we can all work together to forgive each other and move forward and take a new narrative on the 10th anniversary of 11 September."
Robert Wilonsky posts, "With One Day Left to Save Attacker, Bhuiyan's Case Goes to the Media ... and Federal Court," at the Dallas Observer.
Tomorrow, the steady stream of stories about Rais Bhuiyan's attempt to save Mark Stroman -- the man who shot Bhuiyan in the face and killed two other men in the days following September 11, 2001 -- will more than likely come to an end. Tomorrow the former stonecutter and white supremacist from Dallas, who was 32 when shot those men to death and was determined "to retaliate on local Arab Americans," will be put to death by the state of Texas.
There is, of course, the slim, almost infinitesimal chance that the courts might intervene. Not the U.S. Supreme Court; it's already taken a pass. But this morning, a federal judge in Austin will consider Bhuiyan's lawsuit against Rick Perry and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice filed last week, his last-ditch appeal to save the life of the man who tried to kill him. Late Monday, the Texas Attorney General's Office filed to remove the suit from state court to federal court -- a striking turn of events, considering Gov. Rick Perry's insistence that Texas doesn't need D.C. tellin' the state what to do. But according to the notice of removal filed by Greg Abbott and others: "A federal question exists if there appears on the face of the complaint some substantial, disputed question of federal law." So off to federal court they go this morning, with Bhuiyan also having filed a motion for temporary injunction late yesterday.
Today's court proceedings led to the cancellation of scheduled afternoon press conference at SMU, where Bhuiyan was to speak -- and where he was scheduled to be joined by a "juror speaking out about Stroman's death penalty case" about whom we know little at this point. But a press conference would be redundant at this point anyway: Not only were Bhuiyan and Stroman on CBS Evening News last night, but they also appear in a side-by-side Q&A in this morning's New York Times.
The motion filed in federal district court is available via Scribd.
Earlier coverage of Rais Bhuiyans call for mercy and compassion begins at the link.
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