Help Gary Tyler
Did Gary Tyler, age 16 at the time, shoot 13-year-old Timothy Weber in Louisiana in 1975? A white mob launched a violent attack on a school bus filled with black students. Weber was hit by a bullet while standing near the bus. Tyler was on the bus, but he had no gun, and there's reason to believe that a gun that was eventually recovered from the bus (but never actually linked to the shooting) was planted long after Tyler's arrest.
Tyler is black, and he's consistently denied that he shot Weber, who was white. Race and an inept lawyer play ugly roles in the investigation and trial of Tyler's case.
Tyler was tried by an all-white jury with members of the black community deliberately excluded from jury selection. The prosecution relied mainly on the testimony of one student, Nathalie Blanks, who was in the same bus with Tyler. She testified to having seen him fire the gun but after the trial she recanted her testimony. Other students who also testified against Tyler have later recanted, saying that they were coerced by the police to making the statements.
Tyler is serving a life sentence. Amnesty International provides detailed background on the case here. Columnist Bob Herbert wrote a series of articles about the case that are available here.
What can you do? This posting at The Nation's Act Now! blog links to a petition asking Kathleen Blanco to issue a pardon, and suggests other ways you can get involved on Tyler's behalf.
| < Iraq Supplemental: Bush Offers "Compromise"; Agree With Me Or Else | Alberto Gonzales and the Death Penalty: Another Reason He Should Resign > |