D.C. Beltway Sniper Executed for 2002 Shootings

(Thumbnail image from NBC)

In October 2002 a series of random shootings in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia left ten people dead, and millions across the U.S. concerned for their own safety. Now seven years later, the man accused of these terrorism acts will be put to death in Virginia by lethal injection.

Tuesday’s execution re-opens discussion of the fear and controversy regarding John Allen Muhammad, the Beltway Sniper.

We’re looking at perspectives from The Washington Post, ABC7 in Washington D.C., CNN, and The Baltimore Sun.

First, The Washington Post talks to residents of the targeted areas, who say the pain is still very much alive. 

“Almost everybody who lived in the area seven years ago still remember the terror it dispersed on life’s daily routine. ‘I would come out of my car and look around and look everywhere, and when it turned out that he killed somebody here at Home Depot, I was floored.'"

A reporter from the ABC affiliate in Washington D.C. explains how Muhammad’s execution will bring justice to his victims and their families.

“It’s been years since Muhammad and his teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo unleashed terror in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, killing in all ten, wounding several more. Now, in just hours, many plan to watch Muhammad die for his actions. Even folks who are generally uncomfortable with the death penalty look at this case and say, if anyone deserves it, Muhammad certainly does.”

CNN’s Jeanne Meserve says some people do have a different point of view about the execution.

“His lawyers of course believe that he is mentally ill. Also, we spoke to the Rev. Al Archer.  He ran a mission out on the West Coast where John Muhammad stayed first with his three children, with his wife Mildred Muhammad, and later with Lee Boyd Malvo. Archer was very suspicious of what he saw Muhammad doing with Malvo, but he feels also that he is mentally ill, that he shouldn’t be executed, he’s very upset.”

Finally, in The Baltimore Sun, a guest columnist from the Progressive Media Project used Muhammad’s lethal injection case as critique on capital punishment in general. Gilmore said the anger of victim’s relatives does not justify state-sponsored killing.

“First of all, it is not a deterrent.”
“Second, the death penalty is arbitrarily applied.”
“Third, there is a pronounced racial bias.”

So what do you think? Is capital punishment ever the right solution?