Kim Kardashian, Diddy, Big Boi, Indigo Girls and other celebs tweet to protest Troy Davis execution
People.com
Troy Davis has become a cause celebre.
Reality television personality Kim Kardashian is among those lending their fame to Davis’ case.
“I want to vent about the execution of Troy Davis!” she posted on her Twitter feed Tuesday morning. “He is getting the death penalty tonight but I believe he is innocent!”
“This #TroyDavis execution is very disturbing!” actor LeVar Burton posted about an hour ago.
Tweeted Atlanta music producer Jermaine Dupri on Tuesday: “There is #TooMuchDoubt to kill Troy Davis tomorrow.” CNN commentator Roland Martin and Tameka Raymond, a boutique owner and former wife of R&B artist Usher, tweeted the same thing.
And Atlanta rapper Big Boi traveled to the state prison in Jackson where Davis, convicted in the 1989 shooting death of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail.
“I’m heading to the rally in Jackson Georgia 40 miles outside of Atlanta,” the artist tweeted this morning. “Time to be seen and heard.” He’s been tweeting updates throughout the day, posting this photo of Al Sharpton about to speak.
Tuesday he tweeted, “Troy Davis is from my home town of Savannah Ga., and personally reached out to me.” It’s unclear how that contact was made but the two appear to be in touch, probably through Davis’ legal team.
Entertainer Big Boi stands in the pulpit inside the Towaliga County Line Baptist Church before the execution of Troy Anthony Davis at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison on Wednesday. AJC staff photo by Johnny Crawford jcrawford@ajc.com
“Just got word from Troy Davis,” Big Boi tweeted Tuesday. “He said thanks for all the support, he said keep pushin, he also refused his last meal.”
The state Board of Pardons and Paroles denied Davis clemency early Tuesday. He is set to be put to death by lethal injection at 7 p.m.
Many well-known personalities have spoken (or tweeted) out in support of Davis and are using their celebrity to spur people into action.
“There is #TooMuchDoubt to kill Troy Davis tomorrow,” music industry mogul Russell Simmons posted on his Twitter feed Tuesday, using a hash tag that’s become associated with the case.
This morning, both he and Sean “Diddy” Combs urged their followers to call U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and ask that he intercede.
The Atlanta-based Indigo Girls tweeted earlier this month, “Georgia plans to execute #TroyDavis even though 10 witnesses say another man committed the crime,” while country rock artist Steve Earle posted, “Tell #Georgia to stop a grave miscarriage of justice. Save #TroyDavis from execution.”
- Jennifer Brett/The Buzz/jbrett@ajc.com
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77 comments Add your comment
Banned Poster
September 21st, 2011
5:42 pm
What people like Joe the Plurocrat always fail to mention are the facts that Davis shot another man earlier in the day and the ballistics from the MacPhail murder are a match with the earlier shooting. How is that for “compeling forensic evidence”?
markie mark
September 21st, 2011
5:45 pm
I dont see anyone here talking about Troy Davis being convicted of TWO murders. The first one happened earlier in the evening when he opened fire at a party. The shell casings from that murder, which he DOES NOT deny and was convicted of, matched the shell casings of the gun used to murder MacPhail. Do some of you protesting for Davis even know that MacPhail intervened when Davis was pistol-whipping a homeless man, and thats what got him killed? No physical evidence, my ass……
Wally
September 21st, 2011
5:47 pm
Party, my house 7.05 EST. Free drinks, snacks,party favors. We also will be serving JUSTICE in its purest form. We gonna have a good time tonite..lets celebrate..and have a good time.
markie mark
September 21st, 2011
5:48 pm
sorry, Banned Poster…I was typing while you were posting…
Shannon, M.Div.
September 21st, 2011
5:58 pm
You know, anything that gets Jimmy Carter, the Pope, Bob Barr, and a former FBI director to *agree*…
Even people who are pro-death penalty recognize that Davis’ case has too many irregularities and would not meet the standard of evidence required today.
The Carnivore
September 21st, 2011
6:02 pm
Troy Davis has lived for 22 more years than he deserves, on the taxpayers dime. Where is the protest to recoup all that money? By my estimate, he has cost the taxpayers about $1 million over 22 years to keep him alive this long.
I am NOT Troy Davis
September 21st, 2011
6:09 pm
Troy Davis and his legal team have had almost 2 DECADES to prove his innocence. This is nothing more than death penalty opponents trying to get publicity. Those of you that support Troy Davis need to take a serious look at your own lives and think about the skeltons you have in your closet that lead you blindly support a cop killer. Criminals supporting criminals. Yes – you supporters are most certainly Troy Davis!
Justice Served
September 21st, 2011
6:18 pm
Justice will be served when TROY DAVIS is taking an eternally long DIRT NAP, becoming worm food and pushing up daisys…..too bad we don’t still use the Electric Chair to give him a charge on his way out…….BURN IN HELL TROY DAVIS!!!!!
Wally
September 21st, 2011
6:22 pm
“Criminals supporting criminals” Never thought of it like that but yes you are right.Anyone who has looked into this case knows Troy was guilty as hell.This guy is no way the angel he is portrayed as in the media.It should never had taken it this long to impose the death Penalty.Think of the court time,expense,wasted ink spent on this “COPKILLER”. I for one am glad this is about over..35 min. and counting.Thank God
Suavez
September 21st, 2011
6:45 pm
Has anyone else noticed that black folks only protest the death penalty if the person being executed is black and the victim is white or Asian?
Eye Roll
September 21st, 2011
6:55 pm
Oh please, Kim Kardashian was upset that Casey Anthony got away with murder and tweeted about that as well. Does anyone remember the look on her father’s face when his friend OJ was acquitted of murder? That was the look of shock, guilt and remorse for supporting a “friend”. Atleast he felt some remorse for supporting a murderer, too bad he didn’t pass those genes to his big butt twit of a daughter!
These celebrities are just looking to get a bit of publicity. The more causes they support the more money you fools throw at them because you think they care. Please, this just pads their bank accounts. We all know how P Diddy loves his Cristal!
Supporters should be ashamed at the slap in the face they are giving the McPhail family. Troy Davis supporters are making themselves look like idiotic, uninformed zombies. A double whammy of making yourselves look like morons.
Jonathan Bun Ought to be next
September 21st, 2011
7:31 pm
Jonathan Bun – cop killer – ought to be next…….just as they take the needles out of Troy Davis’s dead arms they ought to just go ahead and stick them in Jonathan Bun’s and rid the world of that piece of trash! Cop Killers Deserve to Die Horrible Deaths!!!!
molly
September 21st, 2011
11:17 pm
First and foremost,this really breaks my heart deeply.I believe that Troy Davis is an innocent man and this is an real injustice….These jurors recant their stories and this count for nothing.OMG…this goes to show that we as a nation still lives in segregation and racist…..Shame on Gerogia….The thing about life….We all have to meet our maker and the person that gave or about to give mr davis the lethal dose has his day with FATHER GOD ALMIGHTY………SHAME ON GEORGIA…..
B. Livsey
September 21st, 2011
11:32 pm
All Black males be aware Troy Davis’ death is a lesson for all of you. The state can sentence you to die for a crime that you did not commit. There is not a JUSTICE system in America especially in the South. No physical evidence will send you to jail just because, you are poor, black, or in the wrong place at the time the crime is committed. The jails are builted for black men.You can visit any court room and the majority of the clients waiting for trial are black men. Be Alert you could be next.
Banned Poster
September 22nd, 2011
12:33 am
Though I hardly agree with the guy and think he is too far right for my tastes, Erick Erickson has a good writeup on this case and lays out FACTS that the Troy Davis supporters always omit in their rants:
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2011/09/21/there-is-no-travesty-of-justice-in-georgia-executive-troy-davis/
“I like Guy Benson a lot, but his column on Troy Davis got my blood pressure up.
I’m hearing a lot from people opposed to Troy Davis’s execution that there is no physical evidence in the case — and a whole lot of other hoo-haa.
First of all, let’s set out that the case has been going on for twenty years.
Second, let’s point out that two witnesses at Davis’s trial testified under oath that Troy Davis admitted to the shooting.
Yes, those witnesses have now, twenty years and much badgering by anti-death penalty advocates later, recanted. A federal judge spent two days reviewing the evidence and the testimony last year and issued a 172 page order explaining why the witnesses recanting was “smoke and mirrors.”
In fact, one of the chief nuggets of the case is that there was no physical evidence. Except that is crap. There is the matter of Troy Davis’s bloody clothes that you’ve probably never heard of.
There was a .38 caliber gun. Both Troy Davis and the man Davis’s team claims in the real murderer, Sylvester Coles, had a .38 caliber gun.
Davis’s gun had been used in another shooting and the gun casing were linked between both shootings. Everyone likes to gloss over that. They point out that the man who claimed Davis fired on him has now recanted — yet again 20 years later.
But here are some additional facts — if we’re going to deal with things that weren’t in contention twenty years ago.
The federal courts and state courts in Georgia have all denied Davis’s appeal. Prior to 2008, Georgia’s Supreme Court was decidedly liberal and even they passed.
For the first time in 50 years the United States Supreme Court ordered a federal court to conduct an entire rehearing of all the evidence. The court did and found all the new stuff was, again, “smoke and mirrors,” including the retracted confessions. And while building the case to claim that Sylvester Coles was the real murderer, the defense would not call Coles in for examination.
But then there is Officer MacPhail himself and what the defense all too conveniently forgets to bring up. Officer MacPhail “testified” at Troy Davis’s murder trial. See, MacPhail, an Army Ranger and police officer was working a second job that night as a security guard. He chased Davis and Sylvester Coles, who were assaulting a homeless man over a beer.
MacPhail reported in that he had run passed Sylvester Coles. MacPhail was shot from the front in the chest and face — not from behind where Coles was, but from the front where MacPhail himself located Troy Davis.
And then, if we really want to get into the weeds and talk about facts, consider this fact. Troy Davis immediately became the suspect and fled. Police roped off his house, obtained entry, and searched the home. In the laundry they found Troy Davis’s shorts from that night with evidence on the clothing directly tying him to Officer MacPhail’s murder — Officer MacPhail’s blood.
According to Darrell Collins, who is now recanting everything or claiming not to remember anything, Davis admitted to Collins that Davis had shot MacPhail in the chest and then went back to shoot MacPhail in the head at close range because MacPhail had seen his face — hence MacPhail’s blood on Davis’s shorts. Oh, and at the time Collins gave his statement way back in 1989 it was not public knowledge that Officer MacPhail had been shot in the chest and then at close range in the face.
(remember as well that there were 34 witnesses, not the 9 as claimed. The defense claims seven witnesses changed their testimony. That’s actually not true. Only two materially changed their testimony and Davis’s attorneys refused to present those two in federal court in 2010 to be examined in the evidentiary hearing even though they sat outside the courtroom door. Among the eyewitnesses were three airmen in the Air Force in a bus who had prime viewing for the murder and all identified Troy Davis as the wearer of the white Batman t-shirt, which is what the murderer wore)
Of course, this justice system that is supposedly about to carry out a travesty of justice ordered Davis’s shorts excluded as evidence from the trial because the police did not get a search warrant. So anti-death penalty advocates can conveniently say there is no physical evidence by discounting the gun, the casings, and ignoring Officer MacPhail’s blood on Troy Davis’s clothes found in Troy Davis’s laundry all because the very same court system that found him guilty without that physical evidence followed the law and excluded it.
Troy Davis is a cop killer and I’m perfectly fine with his execution.”
Navia
September 22nd, 2011
3:44 am
RIP Troy, you are in a better place
Critical Thinker
September 22nd, 2011
4:20 am
The pathetic right-wing trolls here would be hilarious if they weren’t so sad. Their only reason for favoring the death penalty is their love of vengeance due to their lack of power in society. It’s really no different than the Roman crowds that cheered on while lions ate Christians. It makes you these deeply ignorant and sociopathic people feel like they have some control over their worthless lives to see a scapegoat be killed. They fetishize state power (except when it helps the disadvantaged–because that’s “socialism”) and believe those who serve the state deserve special consideration (thus calling Davis a “cop killer” without evidence–present physical evidence or rely on your useless opinions, your choice).
Davis might very well be guilty, but that’s the burden the state has to bear: They did not do that. They committed murder, and all of you cheering them on are so in love with pain that you revel in it when it happens to someone else. You don’t care about justice, only about your own impotent rage and insecurity over being nothing in life.
Truthpaste
September 22nd, 2011
7:34 am
Critical Thinker (aka Moronic Stinker)
The guilt for the crimes you have done must be eating you up inside. Criminals support criminals.
@ Critical Thinker
September 22nd, 2011
7:38 am
You are, beyond reasonable doubt, what is wrong with our society. The lowest common denominators like “Critical Thinker” are the underbelly of the US. You only crawl out of your hole when it’s convenient for you. You are most definitely Troy Davis.
carla roqs
September 22nd, 2011
8:40 am
@bob-you should thank God that butchering the english language is not a crime punishable by death. @markie mark- no one has ever said troy davis KILLED TWO MEN that day, because he did not. he shot one in the face, and that one did not die. and we STILL do not know for sure that he killed the police officer. and no, this was not about his freedom, this was about his life. understand this– i believe in the death sentence totally. period. i am definitely not troy davis, but many on this blog could be. i was not on the jury, i was not in the courtroom, i was not on the scene at the time of the crime. i simply know this:the information shared with the public for the course of the last two weeks indicated only one thing. #too much doubt
Eye Roll
September 22nd, 2011
8:46 am
Hey, Mr. “‘Critical Thinker”‘ … twice the US Supreme Court said NO. Even President Obama refused to hear the case. You think the Supreme Court and Obama would put an ‘”innocent”‘ man to death?
Davis had over 20 years to clear his name and prove his innocence, and his legal team(s) went out and produced crackpots that would lie to save their own butts.
So much for you being a “‘Critical Thinker’”!
modest proposal
September 22nd, 2011
11:27 am
JD raises an interesting point: “For virtually every person put to death legally (with the possible exception of Ted Bundy), the collective IQ of humanity is increased, thereby advancing human evolution. Think about it.” I have thought about it and can see clearly now: something needs to be done about the fact that convicted criminals who are sentenced to life in prison are breeding like rabbits. The only problem is, given that a death sentence is more expensive to carry out than a life sentence, how are we to ensure (in these difficult financial times) that the state’s precious resources are being used only to execute the stupid people? Perhaps we should consider an IQ test for all accused criminals, with the presumption of innocence reserved only for those who score above 100?
Kim Kardashian’s death row plea – Times of India | Droid Universe
September 22nd, 2011
2:16 pm
[...] Kardashian and Rihanna support Troy Davis before and after executionExaminer.comThe Stir -Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) -ColorLines magazineall 8,179 news articles » Post Popularity 0% // [...]
carla roqs
September 22nd, 2011
2:35 pm
modest, i know you are being facetious, please tell me you are being facetious…some of the most intelligent beings in the world have managed to be sadistic criminals– intellect is not indicative of innocence…except in my case, lol.
Ron Burgundy
September 22nd, 2011
6:46 pm
STOP THE EXECUTION…..BIG BOI AND THE KARDASHIAN HOs HAVE SAID HE DESERVES TO LIVE!!!!!! WHEN WILL WE LISTEN TO REASON!!!
Maybe Troy Davis could have hired Kadashians dad and he would have gotten away with it.
Kim Kardashian Has More Pull Than President Obama (PHOTOS) – Global Grind » Kim Kardashian Superstar
September 22nd, 2011
8:14 pm
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Ralph Formato
September 23rd, 2011
11:53 am
I think the state of Georgia executed an INNOCENT MAN…. Isn’t it funny how ALL the witnesses said that LAW enforcement coerced them to say that they saw Troy Davis murder the off duty Officer… My condolences to the Officers family… But the way the officers family reacted to Troy Davis’ execution is totally absurd and very, very childish… The mother of the officer saying..”Now justice is served, the Davis family will know how we feel now without their son”….Now, if that wasn’t nasty and biggotted, I don’t know what is then.. She is so wrong with her beliefs….. After all, doesnt the Lord say you must forgive in order for Him to forgive you and to have peace in our lives….? I personally think this execution of this man is very, very sad and disturbing……. God Bless the Davis Family and may they find peace and forgiveness in their hearts……Now the state of Georgia should go find the real killer of the slain officer…….