Marvin Wilson, 54, was executed Tuesday evening after the US Supreme Court rejected arguments that he was too mentally impaired, and, therefore, must not be subjected to the death penalty.
Wilson's attorneys had argued that he should have been ineligible for capital punishment because of his low IQ.
Before the lethal injection was administered, Wilson told his three sisters and son several times that he loved them and asked that they give his mother "a big hug."
Press TV has conducted an interview with Randy Short with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Washington. What follows is an approximate transcript of the interview.
Press TV: Just point out a couple of points, in 2004, a psychological test showed Marvin Wilson with an IQ of 61 and the acceptance rate of 70. However, still the Supreme Court denied this fact and lethal injection was brought on to this man. Why is that?
Short: Well, he is black and poor. There are plenty of people who deliberately murder large numbers of people who are often white and they do not execute them. So often times, how you look and how much money you have determines whether you will get executed within the US judiciary.
Press TV: Funny the way you mentioned the way you look and how much money you have, he was convicted of killing a police informant. Now would this have something to do with it? Is the US trying to make a point not to bring shame to the police department?
Short: No, think about the gentleman who is on trial in Arizona who was shot up, nearly killed Congresswoman [Gabrielle] Giffords and all those, and he is not facing the death penalty and he said had killed all those folks.
You have the case of Jeffery Dahmer, the while cannibal, who ate about 18 people and they did not execute him.
The people who tend to be killed by the state tend to be people of color and poor white, and a preference for killing African-American males. It is either judicial or ex-judicial; it’s the same way. Most of the people who are killed by the police in this country are black and male.
It is America. You have to remember this, African-American people, if you look at the Constitution, Article one, Section two, paragraph three, is classified as three-fifths human. We’re subhuman by law in this society. We are amended citizens. The Constitution has to be changed for us to be even considered as people.
The United States has a caste system, no different from that of India and African-Americans, in particular. Others happen to be the “untouchable”. So the laws are more harshly applied to people that are not seen as equals or worthy or good humans.
Think about it this way, the Nazis learned everything that they did in Europe on the Jews from the United States, as did the South Africans and other repressive parts of society.