Anti-death penalty advocates host open discussion ahead of Honie execution
Aug 4, 2024, 7:34 PM | Updated: 9:56 pm
SANDY — Anti-death penalty advocates invited the public to an open discussion Sunday on the death penalty ahead of the planned execution of Taberon Honie.
The discussion was held at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Sandy with several dozen people in attendance.
“It has been somewhat quiet in the state of Utah, our last execution was back in 2010,” said Michelle Beasley, a parishioner at Blessed Sacrament who invited speakers with national non-profit Death Penalty Action to speak.
Restarting the death penalty discussion
The goal of the presentation was to reignite the conversation on the issue that hasn’t been, whether people were on the fence or what to learn more about its overall impact.
Death Penalty Action is led by Abraham Bonowitz, a former supporter of the death penalty. Bonowitz now works on traveling across the country to give people the “tools to be visible and vocal in their opposition to the death penalty,” he said. Advocates like Bonowitz argued that executions are also costly, citing reports that the state of Utah spent $200,000 to obtain three doses of the drug pentobarbital.
Speakers also included SueZann Bosler, the daughter of a murder victim who forgave her father’s killer; Randy Gardner, the brother of the Ronnie Lee Gardner executed by firing squad in Utah in 2010; and Charles Keith, brother of Kevin Keith, who has been advocating for his brothers removal from death row in Ohio.
Jeanetta Williams, president of the NAACP Salt Lake Branch, also spoke at Sunday’s discussion.
After their presentations, the room was opened for comments and questions. A few who were on the fence on the issue were in attendance, but did ask questions for moderators on their stance.
“I think it’s good that you explore both sides of the issue,” said Dennis Edmonds who sat in on the presentation. “I think the unfortunate thing is that the only time we really explore that is when there’s an imminent execution. We ought to be exploring it constantly until we resolve the issue.”
Edmonds hopes the state and federal government could one day eliminate the death penalty.
Advocates will meet again Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Utah Capitol and again at 11 p.m. outside the prison leading up to the scheduled execution.
