Texan to Die for 9/11 Revenge Killings

A Muslim immigrant from Bangladesh is fighting to save the life of the man who shot him in the face as revenge for the 9/11 attacks. Mark Stroman, who killed two people in the weeks after the attacks, is scheduled to be executed by the state of Texas today for the murder of a Hindu gas station clerk and a Pakistani shopkeeper. Rais Bhuiyan, who lost sight in one eye after Stroman shot him at close range, has filed a civil lawsuit in an attempt to halt the execution.

Bhuiyan argues that the state has ignored his rights as a victim, and that his faith requires him to seek mercy for his attacker. "What Mark Stroman did was a hate crime, and hate crimes come from ignorance," Bhuiyan tells the BBC. "His execution will not eradicate hate crimes from this world, we will just simply lose another human life." Stroman says he is a changed man and has been inspired by Bhuiyan's efforts on his behalf. "I was an uneducated idiot back then and now I'm a more understanding human being," he says. (More execution stories.)