The People of Color Commission of the Socialist Party USA (SPUSA) unequivocally condemns the execution of Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams on September 24th, 2024 - a state-sanctioned murder of a Black man wrongfully imprisoned for years, accused of a crime he did not commit. The preponderance of the evidence confirmed his innocence, both the defense and prosecution attested to his lack of a fair trial, and the victim's family pleaded for his life to be spared; all of this was ignored by the Governor of Missouri, the Attorney General of Missouri, the Missouri Supreme Court, and the United States Supreme Court. Williams' execution was a great miscarriage of justice and emblematic of the unjust institutions that continue to propagate legacies of racism in this nation.

 

Our Commission understands that the murder of Williams is the result of a long-standing hatred for, and systemic and institutionalized racism against Black and Brown lives in the United States. We recognize that these supposed institutions and officers of justice are often anything but, and we know that the racist and capitalist landscape of this country will forever put Black and Brown communities at risk of harm. From the victims of the Tulsa Race Massacres to George Stinney, among countless other tragic deaths, we fully affirm that Black Lives Matter, yet we also understand that our current local, state, and national institutions operate by and for the devaluation of Black lives.

 

SPUSA’s Legal Justice platform unequivocally calls for the abolition of the death penalty and the dismantling of the prison industrial complex that oppresses People of Color nationwide. Our platform also calls for alternatives to prisons as a means of punishment, and prosecuting politicians and public officials who commit criminal acts and violate the public trust.

 

The People of Color Commission calls on the Governor of Missouri and all other public officials involved with the wrongful execution of Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams to resign and be held accountable for their part in murdering an innocent Black man. We further call on all those affected to join us and Socialist Party USA in organizing for a future America where justice is fulfilled by the will of the people, not miscarried by the murderous intentions of the ruling class. We must rally and fight for our lives, and we must work collectively and democratically to tear down individual, systemic, and institutionalized racism in our nation and build the abolitionist society we need to survive and thrive.