11/15/2023 0 Comments Julius jones oklahoma sport![]() ![]() ![]() Black people were granted abolition from slavery years ago, but they still do not have freedom of movement. Black runners all over the country have stories of being profiled or attacked for simply exercising. On Thursday one of the men charged, Travis McMichael, told the prosecutor that Arbery did not yell, threaten or have a weapon when he and his father chased him in their pickup truck.Īrbery's encounter with the McMichaels ended in his death. Last week one of the defense attorneys fixed his lips to say "we don't want any more Black pastors" sitting with Arbery's family in the courtroom gallery. The jury is 11 white people and just one Black person. In Georgia, three white men are on trial for killing Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was trying to enjoy a jog in the town of Brunswick. ![]() In Alabama, where 26.8 percent of residents are Black, 50 percent of those on death row in the state are Black in South Carolina, those numbers are 27 percent and 53.8 percent. Oklahoma isn't the only state where that gross disparity exists, of course. ![]() Nineteen of those 44 individuals, or 43 percent, are Black, in a state where just 7.8 percent of the general population is Black. Jones, who is Black, is one of 44 people on death row in Oklahoma. This week in particular has shined a light on how unequal the justice system remains for Black Americans. Even five Republicans in the state legislature recommended that Stitt accept the parole board's decision to grant clemency. Hundreds of students in Oklahoma staged a walkout this week to bring attention to the case. Jones' case garnered attention from many who advocated on his behalf, including NFL quarterbacks Dak Prescott and Baker Mayfield, and NBA players Trae Young, Russell Westbrook, Steph Curry and Buddy Hield. (AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) Jones, who was a 19-year-old engineering student at the University of Oklahoma at the time of Howell's death, has maintained his innocence from the day he was arrested, charged and eventually sentenced to death row, and there are myriad signs that point to him not being the killer, in addition to several issues with his trial and the horrendous record of misconduct by then-district attorney Bob Macy, who sentenced more people to death during his tenure than any other DA in the country.Īdd in Oklahoma's record of botched executions and any person with a shred of empathy would advocate for Jones and others to have their lives spared.īaker Mayfield spoke out on former death row inmate Julius Jones. There have long been questions about who shot Paul Howell outside his parents' Edmond, Oklahoma, home in 1999. He was not killed this week, but she still can't hug her son again, not yet, something she hasn't been able to do for 20 years. Thinking about the agony Madeline Davis-Jones, Julius' mother, must have felt as the hours ticked away in recent days, and Stitt dragged his feet brings tears to the eyes. Stitt had weeks to make his decision and waited until nearly the last possible moment to render it. On Thursday he arguably opted for a slower, more agonizing execution. One way or another, Stitt is allowing Jones to die within custody of the state. But Stitt, against the recommendation of the state's pardon and parole board that had twice recommended Jones' sentence be commuted to life with the possibility of parole - a board where three of the five members are his appointees - declared that Jones must remain caged for the rest of his natural life. On Thursday, just hours before he was scheduled to be executed by the state, Julius Jones was granted clemency by Oklahoma Gov. ![]()
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