About 3,500 people marched and prayed for Troy Davis in Atlanta last night. Three busloads of supporters arrived from Davis’ hometown of Savannah along with other buses from Columbus and Rome, Georgia.

Ebenezer Baptist Church could not accommodate about half the supporters who arrived for the prayer service led by Rev. Raphael Warnock of Dr. King’s historic church. So an impromptu rally took place outside the church, while death row exonerees, a murder victim family member, Georgia clergy and nationally prominent human rights leaders, such as our Executive Director Larry Cox and that of the NAACP, Benjamin Jealous spoke inside. The march was an amazing sight to see – a sea of signs declaring “Too Much Doubt” and “Stop the Execution” held by a diversity of individuals and groups.

Bus riders from Savannah brought with them petitions with over 10,000 signatures from residents of their county appealing to the Board of Pardons and Paroles to stop the execution of Davis. This brought the Georgia signature count to about 40,000 and the total count has exceeded 650,000. Signatures were delivered to the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles the day before.

As Georgians chanted, sang and marched for human rights through their capital city, thousands more gathered in solidarity across the country and around the world. From Hong Kong to Hawaii, in both large cities and smaller towns, people organized events to raise their voice expressing that there is too much doubt in the Davis case and that the death penalty ought to be abolished.

Individuals continue to fax their respectful letters of support for clemency (404-651-8502) to the board and are doing all they can to make their concerns heard, including writing songs about this amazing case:

Song for Troy Davis by Nellie McKay from JFOX on Vimeo.