THE MEASURE OF A MAN'S WORTH
LIES IN THE LOVE OF THOSE LEFT BEHIND

THOUGHTS FROM THOSE WHO WORKED SO HARD FOR AMOS KING

“I have just witnessed the penultimate expression of state control,
the murder of a citizen of the state. This is inhumane, this is cruel,
this is barbaric beyond belief."
Amos Kings' Spiritual Advisor, Venerable Kobutsu Shindo Malone, zenji

Choreography of Death

2/22/03

I am fully aware of the nature of the dance I may very well have to endure with Amos in the next four days.  I have been through this before and know from direct personal experience that it is the penultimate exercise of premeditated murder ever conceived by mankind.  Each and
every event, each step, the placement of each of the individuals taking part in this choreographed dance of death has been predetermined.  A judicial execution is the most cold blooded of premeditated murder possible.

My place in this deadly dance has been carefully crafted to maintain absolute control over my actions during the murderous process.  I will be coerced into playing a role completely dictated by the deadly bureaucratic will of the Department of Corrections. 

It is foremost in my mind that every prison employee I come in contact with this next week will have the intention of killing Amos King.  I am coerced into my role of remaining silent and cooperating with their rules and orders while I am with Amos out of fear of being bodily removed from his presence at this most critical time.  In one sense, I am as much a part of this choreographed murder as those who strap him down to the gurney and those who pump poison into his veins.

Unless I physically try to stop their inevitable dance, I am cooperating in murder.  Every witness to an execution who does not stand up in protest joins me in cooperating with this abomination. I fully accept this position and I am willing to stand in public with blood on my hands.  The stains on my hands are the same for every citizen in the State of Florida.  What has been ordered by Governor Jeb Bush is in the name of all of the people... each and every one of us bear
responsibility for judicial homicide. 

If Governor Bush is unwilling to take full responsibility and be present at the execution he has ordered, then I will stand up in his place as a murderer.

In dynamic peace,
Rev. Kobutsu Malone

I have so much pain now that I am nearly not able to communicate but I want you to know that Florida was obsessed to kill Amos violently and that all parts of the system and powers connected desperately in a huge attempt to suppress the real truth from coming up to light by any means.

You may want to know that Florida Supreme Court blocked its fax 10 minutes before the execution to block more appeals coming, so Amos was not able to file his last motions to stop his execution.

They were obsessed to kill Amos to prevent the world to see how a human being was held for 25 years, innocent of the crime and manipulated into DP conviction  by the use of corrupt methods, fabricated evidences, perjury and intentionally withheld evidences by State.

By killing him they believed that they can get rid of the corruption done by the State of Florida by silencing Amos this torturous way.

I promised Amos in our last farewell, that I am going to use the next 25 years of my live to expose this corruption, so it will never be silenced anymore.

Amos spirit has not left us, as his strength will continue to stay in my heart and many others' forever.  And he sends his thanks to all of us  ...

Sissel
denmark@online.no

It took so long, and now it's over. I really don't know what to say, so full of emotions that I can't explain, I am angry, sad, full of disbelieve, just not all there I think.

Kobutsu [Mr. King's spiritual advisor], bless his heart, did a wonderful press appearance, so powerful, so dynamistic, so right on, that it must have hurt some that were listening!

Kobutsu said that Amos got to stay the thirty minutes in the back of the execution chamber, and not laying strapped down while they waited for the last words from the courts.

He also said that Amos spoke for about 4 minutes, then they cut him off so no one really heard his very last words, but Kobutsu did say that Amos spend most of the four minutes thanking all of the people who had helped him and been with him and supported him so much. Kobutsu also said Amos mentioned so many names that he could not even begin to remember them.

We were quite a few people out there, and one was even on the "wrong side of the fence" but no one paid attention to him!

I so hope that they will at least write some of what Kobutsu said. At one point he banged his hands down and then lifted them up in the air. Then he almost yelled: "I am willing to stand here with blood on my hands - WHERE IS GOVERNOR BUSH?

He told about the humiliating treatment from the prison officials. He talked about revenge and deterrence. In fact he talked so long and so much and got so much attention from the media that they (DOC) had to get their spokesperson over to the media area and tell the media that the victim's family was now ready for interviews. All had forgotten about them, listening to Kobutsu.

Amos is home now. we shouldn't feel bad for him, he is better than fine. Just use his case and his spirit to continue to fight the good fight for justice.

One of the reporters from St. Pete Times was in tears and very angry. Hope she will write something powerful too.

Oh, and yes, WE DID MAKE A LOT OF NOISE!  Well not me personally as I was busy crying, in between discovering a new addition to my vocabulary.  I did not even know I had it in me. Thinking about Bush. I think that held true for quiet a few of us. Kobutsu called Jeb Bush a "p___k" and that made me smile.

Love
hannah

Kobutsu was so powerful.  Amos told me that Kobutsu was arguing with the prison officials because he was insisting to stand during the execution, and they wanted him sitting so as to not obstruct anyone's view. 

Too bad they cut Amos off, he had intended to blast so many people with his final words.  Maybe in the end he thought it more important to give his thanks than to give his anger. 

It made me smile to think Kobutsu called Bush a pr...k!  :) Amos would approve!  He has called Bush much MUCH worse!

Dianne

Amos was a victim of two crimes-- murder and indifference.  The murder was cold, calculated, and premeditated, and he was just as much a victim if not more that Tillie Brady.  More important to my way of thinking, it demonstrates the crime and sin of indifference. and the casual way those in power disregard the fundamental decency God gives us all. 

Fourteen million Floridians killed Amos, not bothering to take the time to hear his pleas for justice.  The people of the state pf Florida in whose name he was killed ought to be ashamed of them themselves for not caring about a fellow human being.  The doubts of his guilt will remain, and there will be no closure for those who applaud his death.

 

Governor Bush you should be ashamed of yourself! You will be exposed for what you are, and this execution will haunt you in days to come.  Judge Schaeffer, you will have to account for your bias to a judge bigger than you-- make no mistake you will.  Dr Wood, I hope that you remain unable to testify for your own good -- you also have a lot to explain.

 

Amos, I do not know where you are, but I hope with all my heart that you have the peace of mind, knowing that, as innocent man, you fought the good fight against tremendous odds, and almost won.  To the family of Ms Brady, You will not ever get closure.

 

G M LArkin

Amos was one of our very first friends on death row, and from the beginning Dave was sure he would be one that was proven innocent and would walk away from there.   I guess we really didn't believe this would happen.

Amos, we're all thinking of you.  We're crying and devastated that it turned out this way.

tracy and dave
CCADP  http://www.ccadp.org
Our page for Amos, online since 1998  http://www.ccadp.org/amosking.html

I get this little quote today from James, who knows Amos for a long time. James is 21 years on death row and he told me that he knows that Amos has to go but we should know that Amos will never forget behind the walls.

Love,
Britta

For us all

In all that we do
the times we talk
the times we shed tears
or share a smile
or dream our dreams
in all these things
we do together - we find each other
James Hitchcock

I know some people here are particularly shocked by Amos' execution and this makes me very very sad. I feel guilty every time they execute someone, for not having done something more or something better. Today is a hard day for all of us and crying for a friend, each one in his own way, maybe is the best way to heal the wounds in our hearts. I like to think Amos is still here around and will watch us keep on fighting the death penalty in his name too.
Antonio.

In the midst of this enormous sadness and loss, I see the clear, startling beauty of each one of you.

Gradually I come to see that many of you have gone through this before--some over and over-some with your own loved one--some wondering into the future.

In South Carolina I stand with my "family" (ten years now)come executions and many other times. What you express so movingly is what I have seen and felt and know from those ten years. 

You are not alone.  We are not alone.  Let us keep dividing the sorrow as one knowing there is a Mystery with Arms of Love.

You, they, we carry gems of unspeakable truth and beauty
along with the endless suffering. This is all too poignant
and screaming to be told in a deeper more humane way--somehow,
someday--your way--not just one of you but ALL of you--find
a way to tell it. The morning news just doesn't cut it!

If any of you wish to talk with me--receive my listening ear.

I hope to linger a little longer before I go--breaking the bread of this impossible devastation with you--dividing the pain a little. And I hope to stay in touch with some of you. I didn't want to leave as a stranger since I'm sure many of us will meet again somehow.

Admiration for All of you who go through this hell with such love! Be kind to yourselves and each other...how can this be--he who was so alive and present apparently gone from our view?

Maybe that's part of the key--what if he's only gone from our VIEW...?
Connie

PS Thich Nhat Hahn said that Americans will stop inflicting evil on each other and "outsiders" when they learn to hear their own suffering.. this is something right here now you are doing and could teach the world!

I am sad to hear that Amos was killed. I think he has left us the legacy of knowing that many hands and hearts together make miracles.. even tho' we can't see them at the time. I have put out a small "dedication" to him and "us" at http://www.geocities.com/vladd77/LYNDALYON.html

Ann

Death row inmate Amos King has been executed
http://www.wtsp.com/video/player.aspx?aid=2096&sid=1776&bw=hi