Death-Penalty Protest Is Set at Federal Building
Anti-death-penalty activists plan a two-stage protest in Santa Ana today against the scheduled execution of Juan Raul Garza, who could become the second convicted murderer executed by federal authorities in eight days after a hiatus of more than 35 years.
The protest is to begin at 5 p.m. outside the Ronald Reagan Federal Building, then move at 6 p.m. to the corner of Main Street and Town and Country Road outside the MainPlace Mall in Santa Ana.
Garza is scheduled to die Tuesday in the same Terre Haute prison in which Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed last week. Garza’s case has become a rallying point for anti-death-penalty activists who argue that minorities convicted of capital crimes are sentenced to death at a higher rate then whites.
Following McVeigh’s execution, 19 federal inmates remain on death row. Fourteen are black, three--including Garza--are Latino and two are white.
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