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9/11 Hate-Crime Victim Seeks To Save His Attacker
Just 10 days after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Rais Bhuiyan was working at a gas station in Dallas when he was shot in the face by a man named Mark Stroman.
Stroman was on a shooting spree, targeting people who appeared to be Muslim or of Middle Eastern descent. Stroman is due to be executed July 20; Bhuiyan, the only survivor of the attacks, is fighting to save his life.
When Stroman entered the gas station, Bhuiyan initially thought it was a routine robbery.
“I opened the cash register, offered him the cash, and requested him not to shoot me,” Bhuiyan tells weekends on All Things Considered host Laura Sullivan. “In reply he asked me, ‘Where are you from?’ And the question seemed strange to ask during a robbery. And I said, ‘Excuse me?’ And as soon as I spoke, I felt the sensation of a million bees stinging my face, and then heard an explosion.”
Bhuiyan required medical attention for years after the attack. The bullet hit him on the right side of the face, leaving severe injuries, particularly to his right eye.
“I had to go through several surgeries and finally the doctor could save the eye, but the vision is gone, and I’m still carrying more than 35 pellets on the right side of my face,” he says. “Once I touch my face, my skull, I can feel it’s all bumpy. It took several years to go through all these painful surgeries one after another one.”
… Despite the difficulties, Bhuiyan looked to his faith in order to find forgiveness.
“According to my faith in Islam, there is no hate, no killing. It doesn’t allow anything like that,” says Bhuiyan. “Yes, Mark Stroman did a horrible thing, and he brought a lot of pain and disaster, sufferings in my life. But in return I never hated him.”
Bhuiyan has created a website called World Without Hate to educate others about hate crimes as a means of preventing them. He’s also working with Amnesty International and Stroman’s defense attorney, who has filed several appeals on Stroman’s death sentence.
“I strongly believe executing him is not a solution. We will just simply lose a human life without dealing with the root cause, which is hate crime,” Bhuiyan says. “In Islam it says that saving one human life is the same as saving the entire mankind. Since I forgave him, all those principles encouraged me to go even further, and stop his execution and save another human life.”
[top photo: after the shooting; bottom photo: 2011]
In case you don’t know, Bhuiyan wasn’t able to save Stroman. Stroman was executed on July 20, 2011. But before his death, Bhuiyan and Stroman reconciled. Hours before the execution, they spoke over the phone, for the first time since the shooting.
Here’s the transcript of their conversation :
Bhuiyan: Hey Mark, how are you buddy?
Stroman: How are you doing, man? Hey man, thank you for everything you have been trying to do for me… you are inspiring. Thank you from my heart, dude.
Bhuiyan: Mark, you should know that I am praying for God the most compassionate and gracious… I forgive you and I do not hate you. I never hated you.
Stroman: You are inspired Rais.
Bhuiyan: …and this is from the bottom of my heart.
Stroman: You are a remarkable person. Thank you from my heart. I love you, bro. I love you with the whole of my heart… Thank you for being such an awesome person… I mean it.
Bhuiyan: You will always be there.
Stroman: You touched my heart. I would have never expected this.
Bhuiyan: You touched mine too.
Stroman: Hey Rais, they are telling me to hang up now. I will try to call in a minute.
“Ziv says Stroman never called back. Ten minutes later his phone was cut and Ziv was moved to the administrative building to await the execution. The United States Supreme Court had refused Stroman’s last appeal.
Strapped to the gurney, the chaplain at the end touching his leg, Stroman began speaking his last words. “Though I lay on this gurney, seconds away from my death, I am at total peace. Hate is going on in this world and it has to stop. Hate causes a lifetime of pain.” Then, he said: “I feel it; I am going to sleep now. Goodnight, one, two, three, there it goes.”
He was pronounced dead at 8.53pm.”
(full article)](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ln22ib2CNP1qzdgszo1_r2_400.jpg)
9/11 Hate-Crime Victim Seeks To Save His Attacker
Just 10 days after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Rais Bhuiyan was working at a gas station in Dallas when he was shot in the face by a man named Mark Stroman.
Stroman was on a shooting spree, targeting people who appeared to be Muslim or of Middle Eastern descent. Stroman is due to be executed July 20; Bhuiyan, the only survivor of the attacks, is fighting to save his life.
When Stroman entered the gas station, Bhuiyan initially thought it was a routine robbery.
“I opened the cash register, offered him the cash, and requested him not to shoot me,” Bhuiyan tells weekends on All Things Considered host Laura Sullivan. “In reply he asked me, ‘Where are you from?’ And the question seemed strange to ask during a robbery. And I said, ‘Excuse me?’ And as soon as I spoke, I felt the sensation of a million bees stinging my face, and then heard an explosion.”
Bhuiyan required medical attention for years after the attack. The bullet hit him on the right side of the face, leaving severe injuries, particularly to his right eye.
“I had to go through several surgeries and finally the doctor could save the eye, but the vision is gone, and I’m still carrying more than 35 pellets on the right side of my face,” he says. “Once I touch my face, my skull, I can feel it’s all bumpy. It took several years to go through all these painful surgeries one after another one.”
… Despite the difficulties, Bhuiyan looked to his faith in order to find forgiveness.
“According to my faith in Islam, there is no hate, no killing. It doesn’t allow anything like that,” says Bhuiyan. “Yes, Mark Stroman did a horrible thing, and he brought a lot of pain and disaster, sufferings in my life. But in return I never hated him.”
Bhuiyan has created a website called World Without Hate to educate others about hate crimes as a means of preventing them. He’s also working with Amnesty International and Stroman’s defense attorney, who has filed several appeals on Stroman’s death sentence.
“I strongly believe executing him is not a solution. We will just simply lose a human life without dealing with the root cause, which is hate crime,” Bhuiyan says. “In Islam it says that saving one human life is the same as saving the entire mankind. Since I forgave him, all those principles encouraged me to go even further, and stop his execution and save another human life.”
[top photo: after the shooting; bottom photo: 2011]
In case you don’t know, Bhuiyan wasn’t able to save Stroman. Stroman was executed on July 20, 2011. But before his death, Bhuiyan and Stroman reconciled. Hours before the execution, they spoke over the phone, for the first time since the shooting.
Here’s the transcript of their conversation :
Bhuiyan: Hey Mark, how are you buddy?
Stroman: How are you doing, man? Hey man, thank you for everything you have been trying to do for me… you are inspiring. Thank you from my heart, dude.
Bhuiyan: Mark, you should know that I am praying for God the most compassionate and gracious… I forgive you and I do not hate you. I never hated you.
Stroman: You are inspired Rais.
Bhuiyan: …and this is from the bottom of my heart.
Stroman: You are a remarkable person. Thank you from my heart. I love you, bro. I love you with the whole of my heart… Thank you for being such an awesome person… I mean it.
Bhuiyan: You will always be there.
Stroman: You touched my heart. I would have never expected this.
Bhuiyan: You touched mine too.
Stroman: Hey Rais, they are telling me to hang up now. I will try to call in a minute.
“Ziv says Stroman never called back. Ten minutes later his phone was cut and Ziv was moved to the administrative building to await the execution. The United States Supreme Court had refused Stroman’s last appeal.
Strapped to the gurney, the chaplain at the end touching his leg, Stroman began speaking his last words. “Though I lay on this gurney, seconds away from my death, I am at total peace. Hate is going on in this world and it has to stop. Hate causes a lifetime of pain.” Then, he said: “I feel it; I am going to sleep now. Goodnight, one, two, three, there it goes.”
He was pronounced dead at 8.53pm.”
(via where-is-my-sanityyy)
