More Than 1000 Attend Troy Davis Funeral

Over 1000 mourners, friends, and family members participated in a funeral in Savannah on Saturday for Troy Davis that was led by Amnesty International, the National Action Network and the NAACP.

Davis was convicted in 1991 for the murder of Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail in 1989. Davis continued to declare his innocence, even within moments of his death saying to the MacPhail family:  "I am innocent."

After numerous appeals over the past two decades, the Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for Davis. On Sept. 21, he was executed by lethal injection, he was pronounced dead at 11:08 p.m.

Civil rights organizations and activists who have worked closely with the Troy Davis case have repeatedly led protest and marches, and collected 300,000 signatures to petition the courts in attempts to halt the death penalty, however to no avail. 

NAACP president Benjamin Todd Jealous led the charge for advocacy and action at the funeral. Jealous offered "A Resolution of Truth and Call of Action."

"We grieve, we shout," Jealous said, "now we need to vote to take action.

"The State of Georgia has killed an innocent man," Jealous said. "We must provide voter registration and help our poor and black men to get the I.D. cards so they can have a voice to what happens in this nation."

"It is an injustice because we are guilty. It is injustice because he was an innocent man of God," said Larry Cox, President of Amnesty International.
"There must be wisdom for new people and new laws. Faith without works is none. Our work is not done."

After the funeral, protesters lined the funeral route of the procession from the church. As the hearse, family cars, and funeral participants drove from the church, black and white activists, held large posters given out by the NAACP that had a large picture of Troy Davis and it stated, "Too Much Doubt."

The demonstrators led and chanted "I am Troy Davis, We Are Troy Davis, You Are Troy Davis." Some of the family members responded by waiving their hands outside the car's windows in response to the protesters.

After the funeral procession left the church, the National Action Network (NAN) chapters of Savannah and Atlanta led demonstrators by the filling the streets in front of the church shouting, "I am Troy Davis, We are Troy Davis, You are Troy Davis." 

Two buses with 50 NAN participants left the Atlanta's West End Mall, 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning. They called themselves the "Freedom Riders." One of the commanders, Mercedes Binns, said, "This ride is historical for so many reasons. It is time for us to take action, for we are Troy Davis."

Additionally, she said, "We here at NAN will do whatever we can to change the injust systems around us, we will hold voter registrations and we will be in Washington, D.C. on October 15 to let our voices be heard."

The Savannah NAN chapter president, Alicia Blakely, said, "Our work here is not done. We will have a march and demonstration, on Tuesday, November 8, when elections are being held in the Savannah area." Furthermore, she stated, We will have voter registrations for the poor and make sure our black men are registered to vote."

Davis was buried in a private ceremony at the Magnolia Memorial Gardens, in Savannah. 

The reception was held for over 500 family members, dignitaries and guests at the International Longshoreman's Association.

Editor's Note: For more on Davis see the HuffingtonPost.com's coverage of the funeral.