Relief, defiance, anger: Families and advocates react to Biden’s death row commutations

COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Victims’ families and others affected by crimes that resulted in federal death row convictions shared a range of emotions on Monday, from relief to anger, after President Joe Biden commuted dozens of the sentences. Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Opponents of the death penalty lauded Biden for a decision they’d long sought. Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Donnie Oliverio, a retired Ohio police officer whose partner was killed by an inmate whose death sentence was commuted, said the execution of “the person who killed my police partner and best friend would have brought me no peace.” “The president has done what is right here,” Oliverio said in a statement also issued by the White House, “and what is consistent with the faith he and I share.” Heather Turner, whose mother, Donna Major, was killed in a bank robbery in South Carolina in 2017, called Biden’s commutation of the killer’s sentence a “clear gross abuse of power” in a Facebook post, adding that the weeks she spent in court with the hope of justice were now “just a waste of time.” “At no point did the president consider the victims,” Turner wrote. “He, and his supporters, have blood on their hands.” Dylann Roof enters the court room at the Charleston County Judicial Center on April 10, 2017, in Charleston, S.C. Dylann Roof enters the court room at the Charleston County Judicial Center on April 10, 2017, in Charleston, S.C. Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Decision to leave Roof on death row met with conflicting emotions There has always been a broad range of opinions on what punishment Roof should face from the families of the nine people killed and the survivors of the massacre at the Mother Emanuel AME Church. Tyrone Sanders and Felicia Sanders comfort each other at the graveside of their son, Tywanza Sanders, on June 27, 2015, at Emanuel AME Cemetery in Charleston, S.C. Tyrone Sanders and Felicia Sanders comfort each other at the graveside of their son, Tywanza Sanders, on June 27, 2015, at Emanuel AME Cemetery in Charleston, S.C. Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print In a text message to her lawyer, Andy Savage, Sanders called Biden’s decision to not spare Roof’s life a wonderful Christmas gift.