Rais Bhuiyan's impact
Last month I posted about Rais Bhuiyan, the Muslim hate crime victim who is advocating that his attacker, who shot Bhuiyan as part of a post-9/11 shooting spree in which two other victims were killed, be spared the death penalty.
Bhuiyan's attacker, Mark Stroman, is scheduled to be executed tomorrow in Dallas. In an interview with Timothy Williams, Bhuiyan's comments reinforce the impression his earlier statements gave: here is a person who understands deeply his faith's call to reconciliation and peacemaking. "I decided that forgiveness was not enough," he says. "I decided I had to do something to save this person's life."
But I'm struck even more by what Stroman has to say about the situation. The convicted killer answered Williams's questions in a typewritten letter. Here's an excerpt (the ellipses are Stroman's):
