Execution Vigil for Loran Cole

[Music] make me a channel for your peace where there is hatred let me bring your love let me bring your [Music] love and make me a channel for your peace where there is injury please bring your paron to all of us make me a channel for your peace where there is hatred let me bring your love let me bring you love make me a channel for your peace in this despair let me bring some hope to all all in need and Make Me a Channel of Your Peace may I both give and receive your love to all dear [Music] God and make me a channel for your peace in the darkness of this grief can you bring relief to [Music] us and make me a channel for your peace where there is hatred let me bring your love let me bring your love let me bring your love let us bring the love let us bring the love [Music] welcome everybody my name is a bonowitz I'm with death penalty action and we are gathering here to recognize and be present with Folks at Florida at the execution that is scheduled in just about an hour um at Florida State Prison of um Lauren col and as uh we will be joined by a number of folks today and checking in with folks on the ground in various places in in Florida I want to make it clear that this is a space for people who oppose the death penalty uh so if you're in the death penalty um if you're in the the zoom audience and there's any disruption of course there'll be an immediate objection we'll also be um you know monitoring the the Chats on the various social media feeds if you are um doing Facebook or or Twitter or YouTube and you want to find the death penalty action um feeds for this and share it so that more people will be able to be a part of this uh we invite that so um with that uh welcome Grace welcome Lamont welcome Janet Brandon Ally Magdaleno and others will be joining us and for those in the audience I welcome you to put your comments in the chat uh and questions you could use the Q&A or the or the chat um we have a a um did here I see your hand going up and we we have a program that we're going to follow if you'd like to put your chat your comment or question in the chat we can put it there or if you have something to offer let us know and we'll do our best um we know that there are folks that are part of the audience here uh who are close to lauran Cole and um and we're grateful for your presence and we hope that this is comforting to you and in particular if you have a relationship there uh and want to say something we we would welcome that as well uh so with that as we always do when we open these things um we start with a remembrance of the victim in this case John Edwards so um let's uh have those remembrance is happening now uh Ally are we ready with that Shalom Alim peace unto you caner Michael zusman with the thousands of members of layu Jews against the death penalty and death penalty action if you're watching this video it means that Florida is about to murder Lauren kensley Cole In Cold Blood they will do so via lethal injection as first implemented In This World by the Nazis as part of AK T4 the protocol used to kill people deemed Unworthy of life as devised by Dr car Brandt the personal physician of Adolf Hitler the same type of injection is what I use I've been trained to use this nxone to inject people who I see on the streets of Vancouver dying from overdoses of drugs we give this to them as a life-saving measure the injection is meant to Save a Life not take a life as always we remember the victims in this case the horrible murder of 18-year-old John Edwards zon Raa of blessed memory a young man in the prime of his life funloving from all that I've read about him whose life was taken in 1994 we remember them we remember John Edwards now I will offer this prayer from the Jewish tradition and I'm invite you from whatever spiritual or secular tradition you are from Simply to offer your thoughts and energy his way now for Jonathan Edwards a memorial prayer [Music] [Music] Nish John [Music] Edwards be for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] thenar ohen [Music] may his memory be an everlasting blessing may his loved ones be comforted among all the mourners of the world may the killings End Amen [Music] oh God full of compassion eternal spirit of the universe Grant perfect rest under the wings of your presence to our loved one who has entered eternity master of Mercy let him find Refuge forever in the shadow of your wings and let his soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life the Eternal God is his inhance may he rest in in peace and let us all say [Music] Amen thank you Brandon feifer and welcome again everybody I'm a Bono with death penalty action and we just uh concluded several prayers in Hebrew and the same thing in English um with uh in memory of John Edwards the victim in this case um we've got some folks that'll be joining us from uh the prison at Florida State Prison and from other parts around Florida hopefully um we know that there is some traffic going on for some folks so we'll see where what happens but I do want to um next welcome uh Beth Evans who is here um Beth is uh has been um communicating with us at death penalty action for a while now and she is a close friend um very close friend of uh Lauren and she's here to share with us a little bit about her experience with him um Beth if you can turn your phone sideways if you don't mind and and unmute and welcome uh to the vigil don't forget to unmute my name is Beth I've known Lauren for four years now uh we started out as P Pals I um I'm a nurse and u c your finger in front of let me tell you your fingers in front of your camera there you go all right that's better thank you so I've okay I've known Lauren for four years I'm a nurse um I didn't start out to get a pin pal uh romance I just wanted to I was curious about men on Death Row and so I started writing a friend of his first and we ended up being uh me and the other guy and Lauren for four years now and um I have found him to be a very uh empathetic introspective and intense individual he has met men on Death Row are not monsters he is a very caring individual and a good friend of mine for four years now I had a three-hour visit with him today along with his son this this is my fourth visit this week and three last week so um well so considering I do have to bring up his uh childhood he had a not only an abusive childhood what I would call torture so no none of us can judge him for that he went through two parents who were bad alcoholics moved him all over the country mother in and out of prison um and then when she would get out of prison she'd go pick him up they would always give him back to her then he ended up at the doer school not at age 17 I think it was more like 14 I think they have that wrong um then people say well that's no excuse but he was not just a used but tortured and uh for him to be the man that he that he is today and I can attest to this I none of us none of us should ever judge him for you know he at his core he is a kind caring person and uh I never expected to be friends with somebody on death row never in a million years I haven't been doing this but four years I know uh everybody a lot of people have been doing this for a while not me I have I had no expectations of what I was going to get here and um very surprising to me well thank you Beth so you mentioned um you didn't mean to get into this as into any kind of romance thing and you're and you were making that point to make it a make it clear that you're not in a romantic relationship with with exact no no no no I'm I'm more like a sister or a mother not that there wrong with that of course but I just wanted I know that's what you wanted to you intended to to say I wanted to make sure that that was clear right right so how how is is Lauren doing today what was his Spirit like as you uh visited with him earlier today he he is calm he is very appreciative of the people around him the humanity and actually since he's been in this other little area he said some of the people have actually been nicer to him in a way and uh he's appreciative of me coming to visit him his son has is here he's very appreciative of that so he he is so appreciative of the small things I mean we all of us take things so for granted in this life but right now he is so appreciative for every single kindness that has been shown to him in the past now now I don't agree with some of the things that Florida has done so for the past month they put they isolated him even further took away his tablet he could not write to anybody he could write letters but not he didn't have his tablet so he couldn't email he could get emails in and they would this is since he got his execution date they began to further right so that's I want to for people yeah oh yeah so they come to cell you're just sitting there you have no clue no no nothing they just come and tell you to you know come with us they immediately take you to a cell across the street not even you know he can't say goodbye to anybody I mean I know this is punishment I get that and people are going to say well what do you what did you expect but anyway other states I only have experience with one other state so in Texas they don't take your tablet away from you you can still you know have access to email well I don't think they call it email but you can still um communicate with your relatives on your tablet okay so then um so that was one thing and then the other thing that I really disagree with is that I do have his power of attorney and I am listed as his next to Ken and I would have liked to have been in the viewing room so some states again I only have I only know of Texas uh the inmate family has a separate viewing room which I think think would be nice because I I would like to be there and um so then the then the the last week they further isolate you even more like they take you close away everything he I think had a Bible U he did have a TV though the TV sitting outside of his cell I mean I may be making it a sound a little worse than it is but it's just a tablet thing that bothered me I think he should have had his tablet that he could send out you know so um you you were able to visit with him and also you've gotten to meet um Lauren's son and in that visit I don't know now you're sitting right now at the parking it looks like you're in the parking area outside where prot yeah I'm I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm interrupting you I was just making sure little are you there I'm like behind yeah I'm behind where the vigil is taking place but I am in my camper okay so just one of us to let people know so you'll be going out to the vigil in a few minutes um and uh do you know is is is Lauren's family GNA be out there or they um somewhere else said he could handle his son said he couldn't handle this I just he's back at the hotel he's not coming got it but you got you had a chance to talk with him a little bit and and one of the things about this story is that you know the family was estranged and and in the last year or so um uh Lauren's son was able to reacquaint himself and can you share anything about those relationships as you've experien them it I'm telling you it's a beautiful thing I mean I've been a nurse 54 years and um his a year and a half ago I uh contacted his son Lauren told me um that it would be kind of iffy he had been writing him letters over the years he just told me it would be an iffy thing for me to do but I just did it anyway and um it took time but it's a beautiful thing to see a father and a son reunited they look alike they have um the same personality they kind of stand similar and it it's really nice to watch it really is because a year and a half ago that it wouldn't have happened his son you know is I think he's 36 I asked him today how old he was is and um and I think you know at the end of your life you just want to kind of highe up loose ends I guess you just want to like you know so and it was beautiful it I mean it's been really heartwarming for me out of anything I've ever done in my entire life to see the two of them together and he's he's going to take it hard cuz he's 36 years old he does feel a little guilty that he waited so long you know I mean in prison get estranged from their family so frequently and I mean I I was thinking today because I've been sitting at the prison like a lot you know I go early I'm always early and I just watch the guards come in and out and then um Lauren told me a little story in fact this is funny he said the guards asked him you they're sitting right there next to him so he said why are you getting so many visits he goes because they like me they love me you know cuz they're they're not used to this I mean it's just been mear and then the ex-wife came but they're not even used to this many visitors coming when they're once once apparently once they're in the dust cell I mean I'm new to this but he said they did ask him that why are you getting so many visits that's curious well Beth Kimberly McIntyre has been writing to Lauren long she's in the audience here and said says hello and um we're going to uh I want to if you have more you want to um ad feel free to come back but I want to invite you to go out and be with the rest of the folks that are out there at the prison um and um and we're grateful for you sharing uh your experience of Lauren with us um you had said to me the other day that he is um funny intense um what's the empathetic um empathetic and and it it sounds like you had a really good relationship with him can you know did was he aware of the activism that was going on and the people trying to stop this execution and did he have any thoughts on that yeah yeah because his his he has a very good rapport with his uh lawyer now um so his lawyers been keeping him filled in with everything you he he he he and his lawyer are like friends good well that's how his lawyer he's been keeping him up to date now it's too bad that that uh that that's not wasn't the case with his trial attorney who apparently drunk himself to death and was under investigation and and U during the time of the trial even and just not giving him good representation so that's that's unfortunate well Beth thank you so much um and we will um be in touch okay and and and consider yourself hugged tonight we're all we're all here with you okay thank you so much I want invite thank you um Armando Garcia are you able to turn on your camera and your and your uh microphone yet and also Suzanne Bosler and uh Bridget do we have any update is there anything pending in the in the um the legal challenges has it all been has all of that been um dismissed um it has all been dismissed the Supreme hi everybody sorry I just kind of jumped into that um I'm so thinking about everything that Beth said um and how many of you are are here I haven't been here in a while um it's been a long time let's let's introduce you first of course let me just jump in um hi everyone my name is Bridget Maloney I am Communications coordinator for FLIR ins for alternatives to the death penalty um I am really happy and very sad to be here but this is one of my my favorite places to be um on execution days since I'm up in New York so I work virtually um and without this I wouldn't have a place to be uh so I'm thankful that you guys had me over in terms of legal things um scotus denied this morning um um the petition for C without a descent which was expected but also sort of surprising um do you want me to go into like a like more legal P well no you know hopefully when unless you've got more that you want to add about where are some of the legal issues in this case um we were hoping that Melanie might be able to be here to give us that but she is not so it's on you well what one thing I will say is that um Cole is a is a necessary witness in a potential innocence case in Iowa um the man's name is Daniel Harris and Cole was deposed in late June um he was the statement that basically caused the conviction of this man it was a jail house snitch as we call it he was coerced into uh making a statement against Daniel Harris in Iowa and in 2018 recanted the first time in 2020 ranted again was deposed in late June um at UCI uh which is about a month away from when the warrant was signed and is a is a necessary witness in the trial that is set for next August uh 2025 so it is quite alarming that the State of Florida in 35 minutes May potentially execute the only person um who can verify whether or not the statement that he made uh is true or not which she's already said it is not so that is something I was personally hopeful that scotus might have taken a little of a closer look at it makes me very concerned for the case in Iowa so I know this is an anti you know death penalty vigil but I hope after this we can also think about the man in Iowa and I hope that you know that case goes forward um in terms of the other two claims we had the claim of the abuse of doer and the state being complicit in that which is a I found to be a very smart and interesting argument which is that the state recognized through passing legislation compensating survivors of the doer School finally actually the state recognized the torture and abuse that um people were subjected to there they definitely um shortened the amount of time that they would acknowledge the abuse happened during uh mostly because it was because it was a Compensation bill and just in my experience of how they comp try to compensate Exon they like to make it as as small a window as possible for you to get that compensation um that was signed late June and went into effect uh July 1 which was 28 days before Cole's warrant was signed so we we recognized the horrific abuse the state caused toward um hundreds and hundreds of boys teenage boys and then we set an execution date for one of them um so that was the first argument it was shut down by the Florida Supreme Court um and the second argument is that Cole suffers from Alzheimer's um I'm sure there are probably many people on this call who have a loved one with Alzheimer's um it has ser ious physical implications and so the as applied lethal injection claim um was was pretty strong uh they the State of Florida has stated and had an evidentiary hearing four times in the past for people who have Alzheimer's um and so Cole was asking for an evidentiary hearing he wasn't necessarily asking for a stay just a hearing to see um how that would be as applied and they they shut it down so nothing nothing left in the legal sphere other than about you know 32 minutes for governor DeSantis to be wherever he is and do the right thing um yes that's what I have for you well thank you thank you for that Bridget and we're going to talk a little bit more later on about the activism that was done to try to raise awareness on this but uh Melanie cinon is here she's she runs the the substack that talks about the legal issues on the death penalty in in Florida Melanie welcome and thank you for joining us and uh Bridget already kind of filled Us in on where we are legally which seems like nothing is left but I wanted to make sure to welcome you and give you an opportunity to add any perspective you like add um Beth go ahead hold on Melanie it's he doesn't have all summers he has Parkinson's that's I just wrote that in the chat because I was thinking actually about my grandpa who had both and I was like I definitely didn't say Parkinson I said Alzheimer so it's it's Parkinson's I am so sorry everybody he is clear as a bell okay all right anyway that's definitely an important distinction so so Parkinson's that's on me sorry thanks for clarifying Melanie back to you sure thanks aan thanks for bullying me to put my video on right after I walked out of the gym um hi everybody as Abe said I run the tracking Florida's death penalty substack I'm sad that we're here again after almost a year um but as Abe said said you know all claims have been denied at this point the US Supreme Court issued its order denying sir around 11:00 a.m. today so not as last minute as a lot of times that we've seen in the past but that those claims have been denied and there were no desent on that opinion so absent any you know emergency or something unusual there won't be any more legal proceedings okay well thank you is there anything that stands out to you in this case as you know one of particularly egregious things that we don't always see in other cases you know I think I find that every one of these that we've had since 2023 has something to the case that makes it unique and I think here in Cole's case the very unique part of it is the doour school issue um especially in light of the legislation that Governor Dan Santa signed this year um granting compensation to certain survivors of doer I think it's very ironic that Cole is a survivor of doour and his warrant was issued not less than a year after Governor DeSantis signed that legislation and the State of Florida is accepting applications for that compensation through December of this year so again it's very um I don't know if ironic is the right word or you know hypocritical or what the right word is here but I think that's definitely the unique aspect of Cole's case well you have to wonder if um if Cole has um has well actually Beth you've got his power of attorney should apply for compensation on his behalf um so the law only allows one he he was not 17 when he was there that's in his record though he was more like 14 but he I still I think he would still be out of the range he was there after 75 it was after 7 if he we changed his age see that's been the story of his life he's always fallen through the cracks and there you go again he the legislation only allows compensation for people who attended the school at certain times and coal does not fall within that category also you the legislation specifically states that the person has to be alive to ask for compensation so even if he was attending doour at the correct time to be eligible he would not be allowed for compensation if he's no longer living that's outrageous he was even made to clean up the messes of after other people were abused uh Melanie thanks so much for making time to be with us today um we're grateful for all that you do to keep us up to date on what's happening in the legal uh atmosphere on this issue in Florida and for all that you're doing so thank you thanks D okay so let's see if we've got uh some folks here from uh um Mark Elliot is here and I think I saw Suzanne Bosler a moment ago um Mark welcome if you want to unmute uh Mark Elliott is the former executive director he was uh the director between myself and and and and Maria the current director uh but Mark is there I think in Clear Water is it uh technically I think it's lgo that's fine at the same area so we're here the rain just stopped like minutes ago now we're out at this busy intersection it's just a few blocks from the court complex so people are getting off work there and other people it's Rush Hour they're headed somewhere so T just got here so Mark is out with the folks are protesting there that's in the Tampa Bay Area yes there's wonderful group of people from Allandale Methodist Church and and other places they've been doing this a long time at this corner probably how many year long time thanks everybody for being out there in the rain that's pretty amazing um uh Mark anything you want to add this is I know you've been doing this a long time there in Florida as a leader and want to just give you the opportunity to to bring any further comments or or greetings I'm going to hold off now because they they've got the audio want the news so I'm just gonna mute myself for now all right thanks Mark glad you're out uh Armando Garcia is at the prison Armando is the organizing director for florians for alternatives to the death penalty Armando thanks for being on the spot out there I hope it's not too hot it's definitely hot hey I hope you can hear me now you can yes okay uh I uh was just um speaking to some reporters a little earlier but I um I'm here now can can you turn your camera sideways and maybe hold it so that we can see some of what else is going on who else is there at the prison oh sure here let me um you could just turn turn yourself around yeah I'll just do it this way yeah okay so uh we're here outside the prison the prison is just if you haven't seen any perspectives yet on the virtual vigil the prison is just over there on the horizon it might be hard to see in my zoom camera and then um over this way um are all the folks sitting with umbrellas to shield from the heat um I'll come over this way to show you a little more so a lot of these folks have come from uh the Daytona area with Father Phil they in his community and and some others have also come in vehicles and so that's Father Phil I see him behind there and and and they they bring a whole busload of folks from the Daytona area um armado you went to Tallahassee to bring the voice of all the people that were signing the petitions and making the phone calls and all that do you want to share a little bit about that experience sure um so we uh we uh you know planned to do something uh in Tallahassee and the idea came from the notion that uh to be heard and to work for people who are uh trying to voice their opposition uh we we want we always got to do a little bit more than we did last time so this time we wanted to um find consensus on uh some kind of action um in Tallahasse to get a little bit of attention on things and what we ended up doing was deciding there seemed to be agreement around um delivering petitions in person um you know we had intended the plan was to try to deliver them intentionally uh specifically to Governor DeSantis to maybe get an audience with him maybe ask him for just two minutes and I I chose two minutes because that's if you go to most local governments or government situations that's it's a very modest amount that's what they give the public for public comment so very very easy setting a low bar uh we uh went over there and um his Not only was the governor not there which we as the event came closer we you know got more news to expect that but his office wasn't there um the capital was under construction we really didn't have a way nobody that we found at the capital um really could tell us where the governor's office was so that that was a bit frustrating for me personally I feel like um disappointing certainly as a Floridian I I think that it's expected that elected officials have uh some kind of um you know reception for the public it's like an expected part I think of how our democracy would work and they just didn't really care to set something up and and if they did they didn't really care to communicate it uh my uh other friends in fadp were with us uh three of them were making phone calls all of the same time to different places to try to figure out where to go we didn't really actually answer that question um what we ended up doing was um uh going to the offices of the people on the clemency board with Mr Dan santis so uh I spoke to the receptionists ended up speaking to um somebody who's a cabinet staff uh trying to get across not to turn in the petitions because that person isn't an elected official but but to get across to him that uh we think that we that the folks on the clemency board might want to know that 7,000 people more than 7,000 people were voicing their opposition to this and that includes many of their uh political supporters as well yeah well armanda we're grateful that you're there and yeah there's folks all around the the world that are watching I see that that uh uh Zuri is is also there um and and Zuri have have they able to turn on your I'll ask you to unmute and and have they told us what time they're planning to start the program already on the journey it looks like Father F may already be speaking Yeah yeah they're already starting okay well then really quickly before we go to what the program is and S if you could move a little bit closer that'd be great uh Suzanne Bosler is in Fort Lauderdale at the protest there Suzanne welcome and thank you for being out in the streets with you and the rest of the crew there hey there I can't hear y'all very much but um we have three people here so far Steve Weinstein already left but um there's Cheryl her husband and myself here at Broward County federal courthouse and we're right here where it's busy at uh uh where the cars are all going crazy we've had a couple of um horn honks and some thumbs up and yay yay yay for us so we're just gonna continue holding signs as much as we can and listen to all of your wonderful words of where we're going to go with this unfortunately for Mr Cole okay well thank you all for being out in the streets and and and we'll check back if we can um sounds like they've got some singing going on so I want to make sure that you we'll continue to have uh uh to check in and watch for them to begin the program uh but before we do I just want to introduce folks that are here on the panel also and um we'll see who else has joined us you got Charles Keith our um Community impacted communi Le on for death penalty action as well uh M Delo is here from Mexico and LaMont Hunter with death penalty action is here a former death throw Survivor himself uh and others so um we've got a few minutes before they start the program down in in um in FL at the prison and at which time we're going to go to the program and hear what they're doing and and in those prayers but um Charles do you want to bring some some thoughts for Greetings while we have a few minutes here yes AB you know I've been Charles Keith here pack the community laaz on for death penalty action I'm sitting here with a couple of my friends uh this is their first time hearing you know the visuals I've been trying to invite a few people over and you know share the experience and they're asking me all kinds of questions you know wow is this really happening how could people allow this to happen I mean you know the usual questions once People starts getting involved you know so it's better to have them ask questions and to not know anything at all so they're sitting here asking me the right questions and you know I've got their attention and they can't believe that this is happening and I explain to them this is what our family the Keith family went through with my brother back in 1994 but we were sitting down waiting for a phone call and to find out if my brother was going to be executed or not so you know uh I've been doing this for 32 years so I am breaking ground at home a little bit I'm getting a few people more involved because the death penalty has become a big topic you know all across the nation uh you know as we were just in Utah not too long ago for an execution and you know I was telling them about that so you know it's almost like I've got so many executions I've been so many places in throughout the United States I got to kind of remember who got executed where and this and that it's kind of hard for me to keep track but in my heart I can just feel a piece of me a chunk of me being taken out each time it's it's just unbelievable that our leaders our leaders that we chose to follow turn out to be Killers merciless Killers When you have the option not to kill and they choose to kill that to me is unbelievable and this is what my friends are sitting here well doesn't that guy have can't he stop it it's not the question of can't he stop it he won't stop it and this is what I'm telling them well thank you far for that Charles also Lamont Hunter is here lont is a a death throw Survivor from Ohio um 16 years on death throw watched a number of friends be executed Lamont what's it like being sitting there on death throw while they're taking your friends away oh man uh first I want to say thank you man for having me a can you hear me a yes okay I just want to say thanks for uh having me uh on this panel it's an honor um um it's it's unfortunate day in this country again here we go again uh but yeah so uh being on death R and it's and and and I I felt when um Miss Beth was talking about how they isolated um the brother down there uh once he got his execution day they do they do that in Ohio too they searat you from general population and um it's it's it's just cruel man it's cruel I've seen a number of people uh go to their death man go to their murders uh uh while I was there on death row and it's uh it affects you you you cannot be that close up up close and personal to that and not be affected by it in one way or the other uh I've lost a couple of good guys that I've got to know um and it's just uh it's horrible man it's horrendous it's it's it's torturous because you know you you're watching this and you see that you know what what the state is up to and your name is on that list as well so it's it's like um man it's it's it's it's it's horrible uh a Lamont we're we're grateful that you're are now free um and we'll put a link in the chat to how people can learn more about your case and all that but uh but thanks for being with us standing vual in opposition to this execution here um and we'll we'll how you doing Charles how you doing man hey and L man happy birthday by the way thank you I appreciate it man okay zeri can you move a little bit closer and we we'll hear what's happening there and you can unmute [Music] [Applause] [Music] for the Angels SE to protect [Music] [Music] and with me when I I think zi is just looking at the settings for a moment and we'll hear from Father Phil here in in just a moment here brothers and sisters the Lord be with you and with your spirit a reading from the holy Gospel According to St Mark Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prison on account of herodias the wife of his brother Phillip whom he had married John had said to Herod it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so Herod feared John knowing him to be a righteous and holy man and kept him in custody when he heard him speak he was very much perplexed yet he liked to listen to him she had an opportunity one day when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers his Military Officers and the Leading Men of Galilee herodias his own daughter came in and performed a dance that Delight Herod and his guests the king said to the girl ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you he even swore many things to her I will grant you whatever you ask of me even to half my kingdom she went out and said to her mother what shall I ask for she replied the head of John the Baptist the girl hurried back to the king's presence and made her request I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist the King was deeply distressed but because of his Oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her so he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back his head he went off and beheaded him in the prison he brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl the girl in turn gave it to her mother when the disciples heard about it they came and took his body body and laid it [Music] in the gospel of the Lord thanks be today is the memorial of John the Baptist that is the church's Gospel reading for this day and I thought it was most appropriate to read that gospel at another execution that was an execution of 2,000 years ago things still have been changed John the Baptist was a prophet he prepared us for the coming of God or Christ into our world and Prophets often times challenge us they challenge the culture they challenge Society they challenge the world in today's Gospel we hear that even in his death he showed forth the evil that exists amongst Humanity the evil that would put another person to death just for the whim of herod's daughter and so in a very real way Lauren today is a prophet he's a prophet because he shows forth the evil of our society the evil that continues in our human ity and yet as a prophet he calls us to be here to be gathered together to call out the injustices in our culture and in our world as John prepared the world for Christ we are called to prepare the world for justice today we gather together in prayer and in Vigil as someone who shows forth our evil our evil that dwells in humanity the evil that continues to disrespect the sanctity of Life the evil that continues to kill today someone is being killed in our name and we're here to say not in our name today we have with us I ask to share with us a little bit we have Herman Lindsay who's here and we actually have Seth canalo stth come on forward now well Herman's busy Herman Lindy is the chair of the board of Alternatives and um Seth sadly had a stroke in 2020 but Against All Odds he is recovering and he's here with us tonight hello can you hear me 24 person be exonerated off that road what I got to tell you is first of all it's very hot very hot hello so everybody here has a car who could vote all here first of all if you vote for Kamala Harris she has put a 100 people to death okay as you know we're going to bring the B getting us close to 6 o' and we would like to do that and uh as we understand we we know the saying That's Not For Whom the Bell TOS so we're going to to the bell and we actually to say whatever you'd like to say when you hit the Bell be careful with the hammer not to hit the people holding the Bell as we approach the uh execution time they're going to pick up this Bell that was made specifically for this purpose um and everybody's going to have a chance to toll the Bell as a way to ring out our opposition call attention to these executions not my not my what's my name not my in my my name for feel my name no not chill all hi B there people one death broke the cause of death on the death significant homicide what happened the conscious of the American people out and out murder I believe God seeks those to be by those with high and Pockets full of money for a greater purpose I look upon the death peny and bar this is my Holocaust today I have lost 29 Friend by execution by fire or poison I have a friend waiting in the winds in Texas robt Rober is inocent Jess the phoh was turned at the state he never kill any by the god his name was fr J waited 27 years DNA not kind of hard to hear what she's saying but Janet do you want to go ahead and bring your prayer hi yes uh yes thanks Abe um hello everybody my name is Janet Walch I'm a a Christian believer I live near Manchester in the UK the last execution in the UK were carried out in 1964 some 60 years ago and I'm standing here with you all as you campaign to abolish the death penalty in Florida and try to save the lives of those condemned to death and especially today for Lauren Cole some verses from Psalm 141 oh Lord I call to you come quickly to me hear my voice when I call to you May my prayer be set before you like incense May the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice so I call to you oh Lord on behalf of Lauren Cole may his eyes be fixed on you oh Sovereign Lord may he take refuge in you and not be given over to death keep him from the snares that have been laid for him from the traps set by evildoers let him pass by in safety oh Lord May Lauren be aware of you and your loving arms around him may he be aware of our prayers for him and our campaigning to try to stop his execution thank you Jesus for your message of Love of mercy and forgiveness thank you for the assurance that whenever we come to repentance we are forgiven draw luren close to you oh Jesus help him feel the warmth of your Embrace as you take him into your arms to be with you in Paradise for all eternity put your comforting arms around all of Lauren's friends and family too oh Lord may they know your presence with them thank you I also pray for governor DeSantis his parole board and the Florida Judiciary as it says in the book of Hebrews today if you hear his voice do not Harden your hearts so we ask you Holy Spirit to open their ears to hear your voice and for their hearts to be softened and so to bring an end to the terrible Injustice of the death penalty in Florida fill us all with your strength oh Father God as we continue this battle against all executions and I offer up these prayers in the mighty and precious name of Jesus Amen thank you Janet it's one of those things we're struggling with is is figuring out sound through these zooms which are you know we're we're not professionals here we're just trying to make it happy [Music] [Music] [Music] Brandon can we add you with the 23rd psalm please [Music] yep I am ready [Music] a the Lord is my shepherd what more could I want he leads me to rest in Green Pastures he restores My Soul by Still Waters and he guides me to goodness for his name [Music] sake yeah though I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil for you are with me your R and your staff bring me peace you've prepared a table before me and my enemies and you anoint my head until my cup overflows your goodness and your mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever your goodness and your mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever amen thank you Brandon Z if you want to unmute again we can maybe see if we can hear better and also if if you if you can hear me Z if you if you don't mind showing of everybody here the where the prison is across the street and maybe you can zoom over there for a moment Z please unmute all who are lonely or afraid teenagers on the streetly all you may respond with love we pray Lord they might be strengthened in their goodness for a growing love of each human person natur we pray for the family and friends of all whose lives have been affected virence they their aching Hearts find [Music] peion for the family and friends we [Music] pray leaders of our government judges lawers and the men and women of law enforcement compion and mercy we pray for Lauren K Cole as he faces the hour of death may God our Father welcome him with mercy and love into the Heavenly Kingdom we pray for the present Personnel pass with conducting execution may they always know your grace and compassion as they perform these acts of harm we pray for the men and women who sit on death row awaiting the end of their lives that we might pray for them with compassion and care we pray let us pray together Our Father Who Art in Heaven be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and for us as we forgive those who Tres and us not into temp us for the Kingdom Glory yours and for amen today we have with us arando Aro is new organizer for f against the Sor if you can move around a little bit towards the front that'd be great well um been talking a [Music] while his father the visiting are complex enough that um know he didn't get to see he didn't get to hug his father and um him and his mother came down and they expected to have to be able to have some contact maybe take a photo because under normal circumstances on to do that this time they came down and that wasn't the case um you know and thatp I just as well that a lot of people are always learning things about how hor system there's three different there's one set of rules which is not something even if those things are posted somewhere it's not really something that that L of humans very good at keeping track of especially when we're dealing with the weight and burden of pain loss trauma just any of that so um we tried our best to make sure that Ryan could come back down the second time today um and fortunately he was able to so that he could hug his father before growing but after that visit he was understandably broken up he told me that he is uh he's okay with me sharing with folks how he feels um he's okay with people knowing how that stuff system is and um I'm really glad that I got personed M through all this because um I it resonates with me I my father's incar as well and he's serving life role in his case not only for a crime that he didn't commit before for a that didn't even happen government crime complicated story but the point being for 20 years family the impacts of his incarceration the system May intend to punish him the impacts punish everybody my is uh mother person all the rest of us U have been suffering so I feel Ryan's pain and you know maybe in a moment where Ryan's taking care of himself and can speak out about it um I can be his anger a little and I feel like I am his anger now and if uh if there's anything I think that he was trying to get across it's that uh he wants people to know that this is not restorative and that impacts children him um lawence friends and in many ways there's just no way that that it feels like justice I would argue this is Herman Lindsay the executive director of witness to innocence and the chair of the board of florans for alternatives to the death penalty bro actually rehabilit ask God to give us what we take to give other and today we talk something see this state it's okay let us pray God of compassion let your mercy fall on the just and the unjust expand and deepen our hearts that we may love as you love even those Among Us who have caused the greatest Pain by taking life Lord Jesus suffer execution at the hands of the state he did not let hat overcome help us to reach out to victims of violence our and love may hope and heal we go forward now knowing that violence stops with us and we ask that you bless us and give us strength to the drink fill us with your Amazing Grace which breaks down the walls of hat and fear and allows your love and mercy the healing and Reconciliation might your hand father Mercy we commend our brother laen and sure and certain hope that together with all who have died in Christ he will rise with merciful Lord turn toward us and listen to our prayers open the gates of paradise to your servants and help us who remain to comfort one another with assurances of Faith until we all meet in Christ and are with you and with our brother laen and our sister forever we ask this through Christ Our Lord amen Eternal restant to him Lord his soul The Souls of the faithful departed to the mercy of God rest in peace [Music] [Music] so I'm going to um I'm muted then because the the sound is so choppy there and part of it is just uh the challenges we have with the different equipment that's being used and we're grateful for the people on the ground that are doing their best to bring this to us uh part of the challenge also is remembering that you got to put a microphone right in front of your mouth um but what happens with zoom is it can you know when it's music or like the sound of the Bell thinks it's something that we don't want to hear and it shuts it down and and we're not sure how to get around that in any case um we are now in a waiting space and what typically happens I don't know Z if you could hear me um if you don't mind showing us the prison across the road um and maybe zoom in a little bit so we could see that um and and see if she's able to hear me um and uh and but what will happen is when the execution is complete then the Witnesses uh media Witnesses in particular will be loaded into some white Vans which will come out of the main entrance that which is right behind where this woman in the white shirt is um across the road and then we'll see the white vans drive past and that's when we know that the execution has taken place because they bring the witnesses back out so um M doo do you want to add some comments here yeah I I think uh it's very difficult uh with technology especially out in the in an area outside the prison but I think the words that people were speaking was very good those who were present we out game so any of you who have technical knowledge could help us figure out how to do this better it would be great and because I know there's portable systems that could help us uh have better communication but we we need to invest in I think it's important that we continue to have all of these voices and I want to thank uh death penalty action its staff and all its members for working on this because it it fills our we know we're on the right side of history but I was interested when the brother was talking about turning in 7,000 signatures on a petition that's a lot of numbers but you know no matter what our numbers are the politicians don't ever call us in and say well you know you gave me a petition 5,000 2,000 10,000 names let's talk about this issue I think what we need to do is is begin sure that amongst our U petition signers we have a great number that are from that state or Judicial District you know hold on a moment I think we're going to get a um an announcement from the prison there Z can you unmute say a few words but the microphone won reach and having enough do thank you to your presence here for you represent the church in the full and Power way so thank you Bishop of s for being here and if you want to touch somebody holy make him touch you before you leave okay my brothers and sisters the Lord be with [Music] you okay Rono one of the things we need to do um you we're in a hot political season and I work for our political candidates that two things that really gets their attention is money and votes got we're not going to have the money right away do have to vote if all of our people vote in this election because it's not just the death penalty it's about the well-being of it's about the it's about the judicial reform but we have to vote and we have to vote numbers and organizing and you know all you do is three four precincts in any place in the country and you control those numbers people going to listen to you and that's what I all my Latino groups across the country is I don't want to build a party I want to build power for the community and the power is in the votes and if we control our votes in our people going to listen to us if we don't they get petitions from every other group in in their political uh circles and we can do it because uh we're on the right side of the issue we have great people we have honest people nobody's making a profit here we're just living our life to the fullest so I want to thank everybody that's out at the prison everybody that's listening and I wish uh we could all Gather in the room and just spend a weekend together talking because we need each other and I want to thank you for making me feel good about being alive in this world of ours gra thank you Magdaleno um we have gotten word that the um you know the the bands have returned uh to bring the witnesses back so we know that the execution has been carried out uh Bridget did you have uh anything to add to that um I am more than happy to read fadp statement um I know Armando is planning on reading it when he is there I don't have a time of death yet that's what we're waiting on now um so I'm happy to read it here if the volume isn't working properly or if wonderful Arondo wants to read it if we both want to read it um I'm just why don't you it's very powerful why don't you go ahead and read that because we'll be able to hear you better anyway um and again I apologize for the the the way the sound has come across today uh but uh Bridget is the communications coordinator for floridans for alternatives to the death penalty yes and uh just a little bit about how we write these um it's usually Maria and I sitting she's eating Mexican food and I'm doing something else and and we just sit and cry and and read and write and so I am more than happy to um to share this with all of you tonight we the people of the State of Florida executed Lauren Cole tonight we killed the man responsible for the death of John Edwards and we also killed a father a son a brother a friend we grieve with all of Lauren's loved ones and we do not minimize the harm he caused and we also grieve with his victims and their loved ones while there is never a legal or Moral Moral justification for the death penalty in modern society Lauren's execution feels particularly calculated and particularly hypocritical less than one month before the governor chose Lauren for execution he and the legislature recognized the lifelong and devastating harm the state caused to children who were sentence to the doer school for boys the legislation acknowledged their deep suffering and allowed survivors to apply for compensation and yet tonight we executed a doer Survivor Lauren spent several months there as a teen where he was beaten raped and forced to clean up the remains of other tortured children in Florida the governor has the sole discretion on when whether and for whom to set an execution the process is shrouded in mystery and secrecy we have no way of knowing how or why Lauren was chosen and no way of knowing who might be next this week we tried to take more than 7,000 signed petitions to the governor to let him know the people of the State of Florida and Beyond did not want Lauren's execution to proceed in their name we were told that due to construction there is no way for the public to access the governor's office not even a makeshift reception area to allow Floridians voices to be heard the clemency board was also short staffed this week with many of its Personnel away at a conference a selection process shrouded in secrecy no way for the public to make its voice heard key officials unavailable the week we are killing a human being this is no system of orderly Justice we the people of the State of Florida deserve and demand better thank you bridet Zar do you want to turn your camera around so we can talk to you thank you everybody this is uh Zuri Davis and she just needs to unmute and we'll be able to um just check in um sh it okay can you hear me yes and thank you zri for being the our eyes and ears today um you know it's always a struggle to to be on the ground in the heat like that so we're grateful to you and just wanted to thank you and and also this is not your first execution there at the prison and and in fact you and I met there two years ago when when they resumed execution so I just wanted to get your impressions and and thank you for being our eyes and ears today yeah no problem um first of all thanks for bearing with me it's really windy out here and I was holding a couple things um but yeah it's um we haven't been here in about a year someone fact checked me on that but it's weird coming back here after the um time that we didn't have executions and was kind of hoping that time would last longer but here we are again so I don't know if you guys remember what Herman said um but it'd be nice we could not hear Herman at all so please tell us what he said yeah so he um he said that it'd be nice to live in a world without executions but so long as there are executions having a broad Coalition of people here to witness against them um that's really good and important and there are definitely a lot of people here from all walks of life so um yeah okay well s we know it's hot we're F and also that your equipment did not overheat that was one of our worries as we as we plann this so so thank you for being there hopefully we don't have to see you this way again um but uh you know we're all in this together and we're grateful for you on behalf of Floridians for alternatives to the death penalty and death penalty action uh for being our eyes and ears today and um if you would just uh let us see over your shoulder um where the uh what's happening there [Music] before we and and actually if you don't mind if you can you can turn your camera around again and maybe zoom in so people can see the prison across street you're breaking up I'm sorry that's all right it's a bad signal sorry thank you so much okay thank you bye yeah so so what I was hoping we could do is is have her Zoom a little bit across the street and you could you could see how close it really is to the prison um I would guess it's about a 250 yard um distance between where we're standing to the prison but at least you can see the prison and we could see the white bands going by and all of that so um we're um we have a time of death I think it was 6:15 p.m. so that sounds also like there was not any significant issues of concern with the process of the execution we're grateful for that um and now I want to invite closing thoughts from folks and also Beth if you are still here um there was somebody in the chat and I'll connect with you on that uh who wanted to just make sure that there is resources for a funeral and the family has needs met so um so uh we will be in touch about that um and and thank you uh to the person that was offering that um let's see that would have been uh uh Julie so um in any case uh Charles Ally Janet any final thoughts and then we'll have a closing song from um Brandon looks like Charles is out okay well um I just yeah I wasn't gonna say anything but I will I um I'm Ally Sullivan I'm death penalty actions Communications coordinator um t I I find myself at a loss of words I I mean I this happens a lot because we've seen so many executions with so many varying issues but I think just the fact that Florida I mean AB said this others have said this was completely complicit in the crime that Lauren Cole committed um by the abuse he endured at the Dozer School I just think it's particularly egregious that they're killing somebody for I mean basically their own negligence their own issues um I wrote an opad A couple of years ago for a professor who was in Texas she's I think she's now in Colorado and I was talking about this idea and I'll put it in the chat but I think this case is yeah I'm I'm at a loss for I I just it's outrageous that we're killing somebody who who endured this abuse at all let alone at the hands of the state so y That's all hi a um could I just read Psalm 23 of course the Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want he makes me like down in Green Pastures he leads me beside Quiet Waters he restores my soul he guides me in Paths of righteousness for his name's sake even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me your rod and your stuff they comfort me you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head with oil my cup overflows surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever and I just want to pray for everybody who's on the this Zoom vigil tonight and so saddened by this this unjust execution that you will know God's love and his arms around you amen thank you Janet Charles any closing thoughts tonight and then Brandon uh you're on Q again a my friends just said it's unbelievable you know and they give the time of death it's just so moreit and you know that's what we need to do bring in as much awareness bringing in people that really don't know anything about the death penalty other than just knowing that we have one so you know I just done two of my friends you know they're speechless they don't even know what to say you know so that's going to be probably the rest of our discussion today so you know that's what we have to keep doing we just have to keep infiltrating we have to keep exposing we have to start showing our leaders you know they don't have that compassion they just they just don't have it so you know set up for the next vigil and keep the fight going thank you Charles I'm gonna just take a moment here um because I want to talk to everybody about what's coming up um I'm going to share my screen this is the web page for death penalty action and this is where you can find um some of the petitions for things that are going on right now uh including some of the upcoming executions and also we've got a next gas chamber or gas Suffocation execution going on um and and this is where you find all the opportunities for taking action um after tonight's execution if you get here and you click on the more petitions what's important to understand here is that the execution that just took place was the 1595 execution since 1977 in United States and that means that there's five more until we get to the round number of 1600 and none of these people are numbers but the media pays attention and other people pay attention to biground numbers and we're coming up on one and that means that you know this execution in South Carolina uh 3 weeks from tomorrow is quite likely to happen we're not sure what's going to happen with marcelis Williams in Missouri he could be executed and he could be not executed there's a there's litigation happening right now and they just had a hearing about this yesterday about his evidence of Innocence Travis mullus is quite likely to be executed in Texas um and then we're also waiting for decision on Emanuel Little John on September 26th in um in Oklahoma who like tonight's uh prisoner Lauren Cole did not kill anybody but was party to the crime and and because uh in both of these cases tonight's an and Emanuel Little John the the person that actually committed the murder got a life sentence and the person that was present but not the killer got a death sentence and that's the case with Emanuel Little John U so he has a recommendation for clemency and if you go to to to that petition then you'll find uh more opportunities for Action we're asking people to write postal mail letters and emails directly to Governor did in Oklahoma uh then of course later that same day if um whether or not the Oklahoma execution happens we've got Alan Miller in Alabama who is the next person scheduled there and the next person scheduled to be executed using gas Suffocation nitrogen gas Suffocation and what that means is uh that's that that that execution is almost certain to happen as well uh and in all of these you can see five executions in the space of six days okay and and and that's that's a lot and we're going to be present with you online doing this we'll also have people on the ground I'll be I expect to be on the ground in Alabama um we have folks on the crowd in Missouri and in Texas and in Oklahoma as we always do to bring you to these um into these spaces where the killings are happening um and and then of course these um nobody's talking about Garcia white in Texas if you go to the and and also Travis mulles in Texas that's kind of embarrassing really if you go to the Texas coalition to abolish a death party all they list is their name and their and their their date they don't even have an action for you to take but we do we've got these petitions that you can sign um but then everybody's talking about Robert Robertson another innocent person um who there was no crime committed he was autistic uh the Shak and baby syndrome um uh Shak and baby syndrome uh U situation his case has been disproven and that's the situation and then uh in November of course Carrie Grayson is another gas Suffocation execution except his lawyers are actually fighting that so we're going to see we're going to see what happens here but that's 995 96 for sure, 1597 maybe or else this is 97 98 maybe or else this is 98 and then so somewhere here in October or November we're going to hit 1600 anyway this is where you go to take the action at death penalty action.org and um there's a lot of work to be done so we're grateful to each and every one of you who is present with us tonight um I want to say that really it's it's time to bring more people into this work and we're going to have to get louder and we're going to have to get more direct and more confront confrontational too I think because what else do we have to lose um except More Death so with that uh I want to thank thank you again um anybody that would like to help contribute to help us produce these things and do it better you know go to death penalty action make your donation um but really we're just grateful to be together with everybody and then uh finally to just take us out for the evening we've got another um beautiful song prepared by Brandon feifer who again we're grateful for you Brandon for showing up yet again to bring us um into a space of tranquility and and prayer and um and and thank you [Music] Let There Be Peace On [Music] Earth let it begin with me let there be peace on Earth peace that was meant to [Music] [Applause] be with every step that I take this is my solemn vow let peace begin with me in this moment now Let There Be Peace On [Music] [Applause] Earth let it begin with [Music] us there will be peace on Earth when we all speak up we see life and death we see right and wrong we see Eternal choices that can be undone with every step we take let this be a solemn vow to find peace on Earth starting right now Let There Be Peace On Earth let it begin with us there will be peace on Earth when we all speak up [Music] it's time we all speak up it's time that we speak up [Music]