UPDATE: The U.S. Supreme Court also turned down Davis's request for a stay of execution. Davis was executed by lethal injection Wednesday night and was declared dead at 11:08 p.m. Chicagoans angered by the Court's ruling have already responded by organizing a "Day of Outrage for Troy Davis" rally at Daley Plaza beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday.
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A coalition of organizers will gather Wednesday in downtown Chicago for a vigil of solidarity in support of Troy Davis.
The rally, principally organized by Amnesty International, will begin at 5 p.m. at Daley Plaza, at the intersection of Randolph and Dearborn in Chicago's Loop. While demonstrators waited for the event, organizers urged participants to contact the parole board, the local judge Penny Haas Freesemann and Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. Their goal is for Davis to be granted clemency.
A Chicago rally on Davis's behalf was previously held at Prudential Plaza, outside President Obama's 2012 re-election headquarters last Friday. At that event, according to an AFP report, some 200 people gathered. The rally was called by Amnesty International, in conjunction with the NAACP, the International Socialist Organization and other groups.
Davis's execution is currently scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday. He was convicted of murdering an off-duty Savannah, Ga. police officer, Mark MacPhail, who had come to the aid of a homeless man being assaulted in a parking lot in August 1989. No murder weapon was ever recovered and no physical evidence from the scene of the crime has linked Davis to the crime.
Since Davis's original trial in 1991, seven of nine witnesses who linked Davis to the shooting have either recanted their testimony or significantly altered the stories they told a jury.
Davis's story has attracted international attention, including support of former President Jimmy Carter and Pope Benedict XVI and thousands of other supporters who have rallied around him worldwide. President Obama has not publicly acknowledged the issue.
A Georgia judge late Wednesday afternoon rejected a last-minute appeal to halt Davis's pending execution.
WATCH a moment of silence dedicated to Davis from Wednesday's rally at Daley Plaza:
Hat tip to Beachwood Reporter for bringing the above video to our attention.