Bud Welch, the father of an Oklahoma City bombing victim, advocated the abolishment of the death penalty to roughly 30 Dartmouth community members in the Rockefeller Center Monday evening. While Welch, whose daughter Judy perished on April 19, 1995, initially wanted Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols executed, he has since become a renowned anti-death penalty spokesman.
A devout Catholic, Welch pointed to the inexactness and ineffectiveness of the death penalty as its most serious faults. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 118 death row inmates have been exonerated since 1973.
As an example of a mistaken execution, Welch held up Gary Graham, a man executed on June 22, 2000 during George W. Bush's governorship. While Graham was never exonerated, Welch claims his execution was a clear mistake.
"To me it was almost black and white that he was innocent," Welch said.
As evidence of the death penalty's backwardness, Welch cited the Canadian and Mexican governments. Both refuse to extradite criminals to the U.S. unless a guarantee is made that the accused will not be executed. The European Union has a similar policy.
"We'd like to think of ourselves as leaders in human rights, but we're really followers," Welch said. "We're eons behind some places in human rights."
Welch spent most of his time recounting his personal tragedy to audience members. His daughter, a Spanish major at the Marquette University, was helping to translate for a non-English speaking Social Security client in the Murrah Federal Building, when a rental truck holding a bomb exploded. When Welch first heard of his daughter's death, he wanted instant vengeance without trial for both McVeigh and Nichols.
Over the coming weeks Welch saw the necessity of trial but still supported the death penalty. It was this bloodlust, however, that prevented him from moving on with his life, according to Welch.
"If I drank enough, I could sleep at night. The price I paid for that was hangovers the next day," Welch said. "I eventually recognized I was stuck on April 19th. I was destroying my life."
Welch ultimately met with McVeigh's father and sister, promising them that he would do everything in his power to prevent McVeigh's execution.
Welch also discussed his experiences with other family members of victims who originally supported the death penalty. While they pandered to the media by saying they were relieved, they eventually admitted to him that McVeigh's death didn't bring them any peace, Welch said.
Many of the students who attended Welch's speech already opposed capital punishment but said Welch's personal tragedy helped confirm their beliefs.
"It's always nice to have a personal story against the death penalty," said Dartmouth Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Russell Herman '06. "It adds a human element."
Other students found his anecdotes about death row inmates who were later exonerated to be especially moving.
"He was talking about personal stories of people who were innocent who were on death row," Susan Fox '07 said. "It seems ridiculous that people got away with putting innocent people on death row."
Welch has testified before both Congress and various state Senate & House Judiciary Committees and has met frequently with the father of Timothy McVeigh. He has also discussed his position in the British Parliament and the European Parliament as part of the Amnesty International Journey of Hope.
Welch's speech was sponsored by the DCLU and Aquinas House.
