COLUMBIA — On Friday afternoon, just an hour and a half before South Carolina was set to execute the first person in more than a decade, more than a dozen protestors stood on the sidewalk outside of the state’s Department of Corrections corporate facility.
Next to an 11-foot black fence separating protestors from the facility, some pray, others check their phones, looking for the latest news on Gov. Henry McMaster’s decision on clemency.
Bill Scicchitano, from Irmo, sat on his knees for two hours, eyes closed, praying as he clutched a rosary. “I don’t even know the full story. I don’t need to. It doesn’t stop me from praying for somebody, but I just pray for everybody that’s been involved,” Scicchitano said.
Live: Freddie Owens executed: Live: Freddie Owens executed. First execution in South Carolina since 2011
Under vibrant pink and orange skies, as the sun began to set and Freddie Owens’ execution scheduled for 6 p.m. grew nearer, protestors turned their signs from facing the street to the facility. “Execution is murder,” one hand-made cardboard sign read.