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October 5, 2021

Missouri Prepares to Execute Ernest Lee Johnson, an Intellectually Disabled Black Man
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Congressmembers Cori Bush and Emanuel Cleaver are calling on Missouri's
Republican governor to halt today's scheduled execution of Ernest Lee
Johnson, an intellectually disabled Black man. In 2008, Johnson lost
about 20% of his brain during a surgery to remove a tumor. In their
letter, Bush and Cleaver wrote, "Like slavery and lynching did before
it, the death penalty perpetuates cycles of trauma, violence and
state-sanctioned murder in Black and brown communities."


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