Following President Joe Biden’s controversial move to commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 prisoners on federal death row, he has received substantial criticism, particularly from the families who lost loved ones at the hands of convicted killers. The daughter of a woman murdered in South Carolina in 2017, recently spoke out against the administration.
In August of 2017, Brandon Council attempted an armed robbery at a bank in Conway, South Carolina, where he murdered 59-year-old Donna Major and 36-year-old Katie Skeen. Major’s family reacted with “absolute anger” to Biden’s commutation of Council’s sentence amid a massive clemency grant in his final days in the White House.
Reacting to the news, Major’s daughter Heather said, “Anger. Absolute anger. We were told from our prosecution team on Sunday afternoon. I was actually gathered with my in-laws for our family Christmas; my sister was gathered with her in-laws, and we got the call. And I was angry. I’m still angry. I am upset that this is even happening, that one man can make this decision without even talking to the victims; without any regard for what we’ve been through, what we’re going through. I’m completely hurt, frustrated, and angry.”
Furthermore, the Major family was reportedly denied any possibility to meet with officials to voice their opinion. “So, in May, we heard that this was a possibility. And at that point, we began writing letters to the pardon attorney. I reached out, requesting an in-person meeting in D.C. and we were refused. They denied our right to have our voices heard,” Heather said.
Continuing, Major emphasized that the Biden administration seemingly showed no concern “that we’re victims.” She added, “My mother was murdered at the hands of Brandon Council. They should have heard our story. And all we got was a ten-minute virtual conference, and clearly that fell on deaf ears. They did not want to hear our story.”
Illustrating how heartless and evil Council’s actions were, Major’s husband, Danny said, “She was shown no mercy at all. This man walked into the bank, never said two words to her, shot her three times in total, went and shot her co-worker, Katie Skeen, as well, who was totally defenseless and unaware of any things happening. It’s just beyond me; I can’t even believe that this is actually happening, commuting of sentences like this of 37 victims. All but three, which was certainly a political scheme.”
Calling out Biden and the Pope, who supposedly persuaded the president to stop the executions, Major continued, “Joe Biden was also told by the Pope that he should stop these executions. That what the Pope has to do with anything in this country, I don’t know, but Joe Biden certainly has no convictions. He’s a senile old man. He couldn’t tie his shoes, I wouldn’t think, if you could see him in person. It’s absolutely disgusting.”
"*" indicates required fields
Moreover, Major’s daughter Katie rebuked comments by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) who suggested the sweeping commutations demonstrated “compassion.” She said, “Compassion? I don’t think that that’s compassion. The fact that he didn’t talk to any of us, the victims of this crime? We trusted the judicial system. We sat through court. I watched my mother be murdered; I watched images of her body laying on the ground. He does not have compassion. For who? A criminal? A criminal? No. I don’t agree with that. I don’t agree with that at all.”
Watch Sen. Schmitt call Biden “totally nuts” over the commutations: