The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, is calling on all Americans to demand that Missouri Governor Michael Lynn Parson block the execution of wrongfully-convicted death row inmate Imam Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams, which is scheduled for Sept. 24.
Williams, a 55-year-old African American Muslim who serves as the Imam of his prison unit, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at the state prison in Bonne Terre, Missouri after local courts refused the county prosecutor’s request to vacate his conviction based on DNA evidence that exonerated him and constitutional errors at his 1998 trial.
Take Action: Email Governor Parson’s Office Now!
SEE: Marcellus Williams’ Missouri execution to go forward despite prosecutor’s concerns (USA Today)
SEE: Call Gov. Parson to Stop the Sept. 24 Execution of Marcellus Williams (innocenceproject.org)
Recent DNA testing “conclusively exonerated” Williams as far back as 2017, when then-Governor Eric Greitens blocked his execution due to DNA tests showing the DNA of an unidentified individual on the murder weapon. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell filed a motion to vacate his conviction after the new DNA testing results revealed that the alleged murder weapon had been mishandled during his trial.
Despite this evidence, and clear constitutional errors in his case, Judge Bruce Hilton denied the request to vacate Williams’ conviction and death sentence. Missouri’s Supreme Court is still moving forward with the execution date.
“We are calling on Governor Parson to immediately halt the execution of Imam Marcellus Khalifah Williams, an innocent man who has spent decades serving God behind bars while being falsely imprisoned for a crime he did not commit,” said CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell. “The DNA evidence proves his innocence, and proceeding with this execution would be a grave miscarriage of justice.“
Please take a moment to fill out CAIR-MO’s easy-to-use, click-and-send message form urging Governor Parson’s office to stop this unjust execution.
Share Your Support on social media: Help amplify the call to save an innocent African American Muslim man from execution by sharing this alert.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com