Nebraska rally: ‘Abolish the death penalty!’

Militant/Joe Swanson

LINCOLN, Neb. — Carrying signs reading “Execute justice, not people” and “No one has put a rich man on death row,” some 70 people rallied outside the state Capitol here Nov. 13. Most of them were students from Lincoln-area high schools and the University of Nebraska. Some people driving by honked in support of abolishing capital punishment.

The protest grew out of a classroom debate at the Lincoln Public Schools Arts and Humanities Focus Program a few months ago. “We’ve attended protests before, but this was the first one we organized on our own,” said 17-year-old Jack Westerfield, who called the action along with fellow student Roxanna Piersol. “We decided to protest against the death penalty because the issue will appear on the November 2016 ballot. We hope to educate people about its history in Nebraska, its impact on families and the racial disparities in the number of executions.”

Christy and Richard Hargesheimer, 40-year veterans of Nebraskans for Peace, spoke at the rally. They have fought to end Nebraska’s death penalty since 1991. Nebraskans for Peace highlighted the fight to defeat the pro-execution referendum at its Oct. 17 conference.

— JOE SWANSON