Tuesday, November 5, 2013

HONORING THE 12 FALLEN SOLDIERS AND 1 CIVILIAN OF THE 2009 FORT HOOD SHOOTING (NOVEMBER 5, 2009)



            On this date, November 5, 2009, a mass murder occurred at Fort Hood, Texas where 13 people were shot dead. The Comrades of Unit 1012: The VFFDP will offer our most sincere condolences and heartfelt sympathy for the 12 fallen soldiers and the 1 civilian killed in the mass murder. We honor you all like fallen soldiers and treat you like martyrs in this terrorist attack.

            Unit 1012 will post quotes from the victims’ families, homicide survivors and also from a prosecutor who are all in favor of the death sentence for Nidal Hassan. We will write a rebuttal essay to Diann Rust-Tierney.


QUOTE: Alonzo Lunsford, who was shot seven times, understands that Hasan's goal is to be viewed as "a fighter for his people - as if he's a god."

If he gets the death penalty, potential martyrdom is "a cost that comes with that," Lunsford said. "But I can live with that cost. I can live with that cost because that's how our system of government works, and that's how our justice system works."


FILE- In this Nov. 5, 2010, file photo, Staff Sgt. Joy Clark of the 467th Combat Stress Control Detachment takes a moment to run her fingers over the engravings of the names of her fellow soldiers at a ceremony commemorating the one-year anniversary of the worst mass shooting on a U.S. military base, in Fort Hood, Texas. Maj. Nidal Hasan is charged in the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood that left 13 dead and more than 30 others wounded. Hasan doesn’t deny that he carried out the rampage, but military law prohibits him from entering a guilty plea because authorities are seeking the death penalty. If he is convicted and sentenced to death in a trial that starts Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013, there are likely years, if not decades, of appeals ahead.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, SONYA N. HEBERT, FILE — AP Photo
QUOTE: Howard Ray, a retired staff sergeant who said he was just inches from several of Hasan's bullets, said no matter how or when Hasan dies, some will view him as a martyr.

"Does it happen now or in 40 to 50 years when he dies in prison? Once he dies in 50 years, it's going to be the same. He still died for the cause," Ray said. "There's justice that has to be met, and I think the way it can be met is through the death penalty."


Kerry Cahill, right, comforts her mother, Joleen, as they join other family members to talk about Michael Cahill, who was killed in the 2009 mass shooting at Ft. Hood, Texas. Also pictured are Keely Vanacker and brother James. (Eric Gay / Associated Press / August 28, 2013)
QUOTE: After the sentencing, victims' relatives consoled one another. The mother of a soldier killed in the attack, 29-year-old Staff Sgt. Amy Krueger, wiped away tears. Some spoke of their relief.

"This has been a very long and exhausting process. We are tired. We are hurt. We are resolved: Justice has been served," said Keely Vanacker, daughter of Michael Cahill, 62, the lone civilian killed in the shooting.

QUOTE: One victim's mother questioned Hasan's professed motive: protecting the Taliban as a Muslim guerrilla fighter.

"Anyone who would use their religion to commit acts of terrorism serves no God except their own hatred and self-interest," said Gale Hunt during a briefing at the Army post, adding that, "as a Christian, I cannot say I wish anyone dead for crimes against me or my family, but that doesn't mean that I'm opposed to the death penalty."

QUOTE: A military prosecutor insisted in closing arguments Wednesday that a death sentence is not martyrdom.

"He is not now and will never be a martyr," said the prosecutor, Col. Michael Mulligan. "Do not be fooled. He is not giving his life — we are taking his life. This is not his gift to God. He is a criminal, a cold-blooded murderer."

             Unit 1012 will explain why we strongly disagree with Diann Rust-Tierney, the Executive Director of the NCADP on her article, ‘Death Sentence in Case of Fort Hood Shooter Out of Step’. We will rebut her with examples from history.

From the perspective of someone who opposes all executions, this is a good thing. However, we all should be troubled by a system of justice that is increasingly arbitrary and unpredictable in meeting out the most fearsome of punishments.

We have always had a delicate and uncomfortable relationship with the death penalty as part of our judicial system. Despite its longevity, it doesn't quite fit. We do the best we can as human beings to craft systems and institutions that are unbiased and mete out justice accurately and fairly. But we fall short.

REBUTTAL: No way, for Nidal Hassan’s case, he is guilty beyond any doubt. The death sentence handed to him was fair and just and even accurate. 

We give it our best approximation. We rely on the adversarial process. We consider aggravating and mitigating circumstances. But deep down inside, even those who support this practice admit that it's not easy to get it right.

There are things that we can get right. We can focus our energies and attention on determining why someone we would not suspect of harming others would wreak such havoc on a community. What signs might we watch for? What interventions might we apply that could prevent or limit the harm from occurring in the first place? What additional systems might we put in place to help people and communities heal? Questions we don't seem to get around to asking, let alone finding the time, energy and resources to answer when our focus is on death sentences and executions.

REBUTTAL: Unit 1012 knows that even with or without the death penalty, you can also participate in researching on preventing crime. Unless there are no murders or any crimes, the State still needs the time, energy and resources for help. The Death Penalty does not distract investigators, it is the Abolitionist that are the problem.

It might seem easier to simply label some conduct as monstrous and designate its perpetrator to be dispatched from this life. But deep down we know that the label is simplistic. And the solution is inadequate to prevent another tragedy from occurring. We know too that we are paying too little attention to the people who have lost loved ones to murder and their need for our tangible support towards healing.

REBUTTAL: << We know too that we are paying too little attention to the people who have lost loved ones to murder and their need for our tangible support towards healing.>> Not at all, many victims’ family members want to see justice done for their loved ones killers. It is the fault of the abolitionists who wants the public to pay attention to the welfare of the murderers. Unit 1012 supports victims’ families who want to see justice done.  

That is why, even in the face of tragedies that test our resolve to move forward to find better ways of identifying and addressing the root causes of violence and serving the needs of people who are harmed by violence, the use of the death penalty must end.

REBUTTAL: Ending the death penalty will do nothing to serve the needs of people who are harmed by violence, justice must be served. As George Orwell said:


Perhaps, Diann Rust-Tierney should learn from the following history about executing killers who are guilty beyond any doubt:

We, the Comrades of Unit 1012, prefer the justice system in pre-World War II era, where they can execute those guilty in a swift and sure manner. We got this information from Lester Jackson’s article: ‘The Modern Elite Ruling Class Notion of Justice: Cruel and Unusual Punishment of Victims’.

President William McKinley died on Sept. 14, 1901, eight days after being shot by Leon Czolgosz, who was caught in the act and confessed. On Sept. 23, Czolgosz went on trial and was sentenced to death three days later. He was executed on Oct. 29, 53 days after the crime and 47 after the president’s death.

Leon Czolgosz shoots President McKinley with a concealed revolver. Clipping of a wash drawing by T. Dart Walker.
Unable to get near his first choice (75), President Herbert Hoover, Giuseppe Zangara settled on President-elect Franklin Roosevelt. On Feb. 15, 1933, Zangara’s errant shot hit Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, who died on March 6. Caught in the act and having confessed, Zangara was executed on March 20, 1933 after 10 days on death row and 14 days after his victim died.

 

Giuseppe Zangara
On July 2, 1881, Charles Guiteau shot President James Garfield, who died on Sept. 19. Immediately caught, Guiteau boasted of his deed. He was placed on trial for murder on Nov. 14 and found guilty on Jan. 25, 1882. After an appeal rejected May 22 and a denied request for an orchestra to play at his hanging, Guiteau was executed on June 30, 1882, nine months after his victim died.


An engraving of James A. Garfield's assassination, published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. The caption reads "Washington, D.C.—The attack on the President's life—Scene in the ladies' room of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad depot—The arrest of the assassin / from sketches by our special artist's A. Berghaus and C. Upham."
President Garfield is at center right, leaning after being shot. He is supported by Secretary of State James G. Blaine who wears a light colored top hat. To left, assassin Charles Guiteau is restrained by members of the crowd, one of whom is about to strike him with a cane.
Another capital case which had a swift and sure execution was that of Rashid al Rashidi, which the execution took place on 1 year and two months from the murder. 

Do you notice that this terrorist in Egypt was executed 9 months after being sentenced to death and 1 year and 9 months after the murders, swift and sure!

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