White supremacist execution
Your support helps us to tell the story
Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.
Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.
Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.
Louise Thomas
Editor
Alabama's governor, Fob James, yesterday refused to block the execution scheduled for early today of a white supremacist convicted of murder in the 1981 lynch-style slaying of a black teenager. Henry Francis Hays, 42, was set to die at 12.01am in Alabama's first execution for a white- on-black crime since 1913.
Hays was convicted in the 1981 killing of Michael Donald, a 19-year-old black man who was abducted at random from a Mobile street by two men, then beaten, cut and strangled. His body was strung up in a tree by the curb,"to show Klan strength in Alabama", according to the prosecution. AP - Mobile, Alabama
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments