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Good morning. Despite a clemency recommendation from within DOJ, the Trump administration is on track to kill Brandon Bernard tonight. Here's my story on his case, the jurors who oppose his execution & what it's been like to see his neighbors taken to die. https://theintercept.com/2020/12/05/federal-executions-brandon-bernard/
There is a lot wrong in Brandon's case and the various elements have been covered extensively in recent weeks. See @etammykim's story in @NewYorker https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/trumps-final-cruelty-executing-prisoners and @jessicaschulb's story in @HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brandon-bernard-execution-trump-administration_n_5fcaa43ac5b63a153451c142
And of course, see the website put up by his legal team. https://www.helpsavebrandon.com
Remember: Brandon Bernard is the 9th person in line to die in the federal execution chamber since July. Yesterday I spoke for hours with the loved one of a man who was executed earlier this year. The grief and trauma is unbearable, yet their voices are often silenced or ignored.
I talked about this in an audio piece that aired on yesterday's @intercepted, discussing Brandon's codefendant, Christopher Vialva, who was executed in September. (Thanks to @jeremyscahill for the segment & to @msmightyflynn for her skillful producing.) https://theintercept.com/2020/12/09/intercepted-trump-executions-biden-national-security/
Hi again from the FCC Terre Haute Training Center. If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know that this is where the press checks in to cover the federal executions. Tonight the Trump administration plans to kill Brandon Bernard. See my previous tweets for background.
As I have in the past, I applied to be a media witness to the execution but was denied. I have not yet been given an explanation as to how they choose media witnesses. Outside, one of the designated vans waits to transport media witnesses to the penitentiary grounds.
The execution is set for 6pm ET. Usually I’m outside by now, but am still waiting for the briefing for non-witnessing press. Here in the training center, the BOP takes my temp on arrival, asks if I’m experiencing symptoms, and provides hand sanitizer, wipes, masks, & health tips.
Needless to say, these protocols have not kept Covid from spreading here. The ACLU has been litigating this issue for months; most recently the BOP admitted that 8 of some 40 execution team members tested positive after the execution of Orlando Hall https://apnews.com/article/prisons-coronavirus-pandemic-executions-terre-haute-indiana-e80af6a566bbff50ed5e9a097c305dbb
Finally got our briefing from BOP spokesperson, who says that family members of the victims, Todd & Stacie Bagley, will be delivering statements to the press after the execution. They did not do this after Christopher Vialva’s execution. He was the one who shot both the Bagleys.
As we approach 6pm, it is clear the execution will be somewhat delayed. This is not unusual given the litigation that occurs up until the last minute. What is unusual here are some of the players who have gotten involved. https://twitter.com/RDunhamDPIC/status/1337153155503681537
The vans are still parked out front.
As always, follow @RDunhamDPIC for legal updates. https://twitter.com/rdunhamdpic/status/1337167365675552769
There are a lot of new faces at the Dollar General tonight. This is directly across from the penitentiary. Activists successfully sued for access to this spot months ago and hold vigils and protests on execution nights.
Meanwhile, at the training center, media witnesses are waiting to find out if & when they will be watching a man die tonight. Several have already witnessed multiple executions since July. One local reporter has seen all 8. This will be her ninth. Follow @georgehale for updates.
Brandon's gotten support bc of clear injustices in his case: his age, lack of culpability & evidence concealed at trial. But he's also well-liked on death row. "It will be heartbreaking if they kill Bernard, he don't belong here by no stretch of the imagination," one guy told me.
Another one of Brandon's neighbors on death row says "Brandon's presence is unlike most of the guys here...Brandon resonates this harmless quality." He also describes him as one of the "go-to guys for help in here."
If Brandon Bernard's execution goes through, it'll be a blow not only to his family & advocates, but to those on death row who've been holding out hope for him. "I'm cautiously optimistic that things will go in my friend Brandon's favor," one man wrote to me recently.
Another guy remembered that when Brandon and Christopher Vialva got to death row, they were incredibly young compared to many others around them. He called them "Texas two-step," because they spent so much time together. Christopher was 40 when he was executed. Brandon is 40 now.
Brandon has a number of penpals. Recently I've written w/ him directly too. He's talked about family visits, his gratitude for supporters, and the challenge of living under an execution date. "You are trying to be normal..but in the back of you mind you think..what is the point?"
Like Christopher Vialva, he said he was overwhelmed at the long list of things he had to do before his date. One morning, he wrote that it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. This struck me; I asked if he had a window in his cell on the death range. He responded:
"I have access to a window but I don't even go near it because the only thing that I can see, through a sliver part on the side...is this tower. It feels like I'm deep in a maximum prison so I don't even go near the window. I can see the sky though."
Update. It could be a long night. https://twitter.com/georgehale/status/1337193071205900288
The execution will move forward. Media witnesses are being taken back to the prison. Many if not all of them will be back tomorrow for the execution of Alfred Bourgeois. https://twitter.com/Jordan_S_Rubin/status/1337208348828200960
