On Monday Mark Stroman, the white supremacist who shot three men he believed were of Middle Eastern descent, killing two, lost another appeal to prevent his execution, which is scheduled for July 20 in Huntsville. The Supreme Court declined, without comment, to review his case, after the Fifth Court of Appeals denied his motion to stay the execution.
Shortly after the news broke, we called Rais Bhuiyan, Stroman's only living victim -- and the man who's been fighting to save his attacker's life. Turns out he didn't call back immediately because he was in New York, doing another round of publicity to promote his website, World Without Hate, which advocates for the commutation of Stroman's sentence to life in prison.
"Time is getting too short," Bhuiyan tells Unfair Park, when asked for his response to the court's decision not to intervene.
He says he's spoken to Stroman's defense attorney, who's preparing a new appeal, this time with statements from Bhuiyan and the family of another victim, Waqar Hasan, who also oppose Stroman's execution.
"I'm hopeful that the new appeal will not be denied and they will at least take a look, maybe see something different," Bhuiyan says.
We asked: If Stroman loses all his appeals, will Bhuiyan attend the execution?
"Right now, I have not thought about that," he says. "I'm still very hopeful we would not have to face that kind of result on July 20. I hope, since the victims came forward and we're doing everything possible, I'm very hopeful we will achieve our goal. I'm not thinking about the negative things."
