Troy Davis Story: '#TooMuchDoubt' Twitter Campaign Continues Hours Before Execution
Several organizations and individuals have been testing the power of social media to campaign against Troy Davis' execution, which is scheduled for Wednesday night.
Amnesty International launched a Twitter campaign by with the hashtag and phrase "#TooMuchDoubt to execute Davis," hoping the media attention would encourage the Georgia Board of Pardons & Parole to grant Davis clemency and commute his sentence.
The "#TooMuchDoubt" campaign also asks people to change their Facebook profile picture to a photo of Davis that features the words "Too Much Doubt" written above the Georgia inmate's face.
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Possibly hundreds of people, including celebrities, have been using their Twitter accounts to participate in the "#TooMuchDoubt" campaign and voice their frustrations with Davis' case, the U.S. legal system, and the death penalty.
"And yet again the system that we live in fails the innocence of our people," wrote Lara A.
"There is #TooMuchDoubt to kill Troy Davis tomorrow," music producer Jermaine Dupri wrote.
"Dosent [sic] matter what u believe about Guilt or Innocence. We Should Not Execute when there's #TooMuchDoubt!! That is NOT Justice! #TroyDavis," said Kimora Lee Simmons.
"It is terribly wrong to base a death penalty case SOLELY on eyewitness testimony & no forensic evidence #troydavis #toomuchdoubt," said CNN commentator Rolands Martin.
"2 much doubt about it: How can Troy Davis b executed when 7 of 9 witnesses have recanted their testimony? Injustice doesn't solve anything!," wrote Dr. Freddy Haynes.
Although countless numbers of Twitter users have been tweeting about Davis' execution, the 42-year-old's name has not appeared on Twitter’s list of top 10 "trending topics."
Media mogul Russell Simmons wrote, "Hey @Twitter - I want to buy the promoted trending topic, so it says Troy Davis. How do we do that?"
Several people were disappointed that "Troy Davis" had not emerged on Twitter Trends, however "Who Is Troy Davis" is on the list - in addition to the phrase "Casey Anthony," as some Twitter users noted.
"Casey Anthony was a trending topic but Troy Davis isn't? Smh.," said HOTlantaaaa to YOU.
"Getting troy davis trending won't make him free and it definitely [sic] won't bring him back after he's gone, which seems inevitable," wrote Pennstradamus.
The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles decided Sept. 20 to move forward with Davis' execution, despite a lack of physical evidence tying him to the 1989 killing of Mark Allen MacPhail, an off-duty Savannah police officer.
"The board members have not taken their responsibility lightly and certainly understand the emotions attached to a death penalty case," the panel said in a statement.
Davis has been death row since the 1991 murder conviction. His conviction was based mostly on eyewitness evidence, of which seven of the nine witnesses have recanted their testimony.
MacPhail's relatives say they have no doubt the right man is being punished.
"Justice was finally served for my father," said Mark MacPhail, Jr., who was an infant when his father was gunned down. "The truth was finally heard," he told CBS News.
Davis' attorney, Stephen Marsh, had asked state prison officials and the pardons board to allow Davis to take a polygraph test, a request which was denied.
Davis, 42, is to be executed Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET.
