On the first day in 16 years that three people on death row were scheduled to be executed on the same day, faith groups in Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Iowa tolled their bells as part of a campaign led by the Death Penalty Action advocacy group. In Tennessee, they rang for two minutes at 10 a.m. CT that coincided with a scheduled execution in the state.
“ We have to be together in our opposition to executions and in our statement that this is not in alignment with the teachings of our faiths,” said Abraham Bonowitz, the executive director of Death Penalty Action and co-founder of L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty, in an interview. “ There should never be an execution without protest.”
On Thursday morning, Tennessee executed Anthony Darrell Hines and Oklahoma executed Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez. Alabama executed Jeremy Williams Thursday evening. All three were convicted of murder.
