- Bush Heckled By Death Penalty Foes

Bush Heckled By Death Penalty Foes

Protesters Disrupt Events As Texas Inmate Nears Execution

LOS ANGELES, Updated 5:56 p.m. EDT June 21, 2000 -- Death penalty protesters greet George W. Bush with angry chants everywhere he goes in vote-rich California, but the Texas governor has stuck to his script of education reform by day and raising money by night.

"Don't execute an innocent man!" two protesters, nattily disguised as high-dollar donors, burst out shouting as Bush was introduced Tuesday night at a $2 million fund-raiser here.


	Bush Interrupted By Hecklers Jackson, Jagger Fight For Gary Graham's Life Death Penalty Opponents Rally

"Bush says death row; we say hell, no!" shouted several dozen picketers outside the Century Plaza Hotel.

Like others who disrupted a smaller fund-raiser the night before, the two inside the ballroom were quickly removed to the applause of Bush supporters.

But outside both events, protesters picketed and shouted slogans that underscored how the execution of Gary Graham scheduled for Thursday (see related story) distracted Bush's effort to loosen Vice President Al Gore's grip on California's electorate.

The case of Graham, whom supporters say received an unfair trial, hung over the three-day Western tour.

Because Graham already received a temporary reprieve from Bush's predecessor, the governor has no power to spare his life unless the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommends a pardon, a reprieve or commutation of his sentence. Still, Bush kept updated on the situation.

Bush on Tuesday refused to take a reporter's question about Graham's case, and avoided giving reporters another opportunity to discuss the issue at length with him.

Of the protesters, he joked during a brief visit to the press cabin of his plane: "I thought a lot of them were for me. I'm an optimist."

But Bush also has made clear that the issue is no laughing matter for him, his state or his presidential campaign. On Monday, he said he was "sensitive" about the issue and wanted people to know his motivations.

"I'm gonna stand on principle," Bush declared aboard the plane, defending the system that has executed 131 prisoners since he took office five years ago. "I think it's important that they (voters) know that I'm going to make decisions based on the law and justice and fairness."

A new California poll underscored the challenge that Bush faces in chasing the presidential race's biggest electoral prize. Despite nine visits here since winning the GOP primary in March, Bush was still 11 points behind Gore in the Field Poll.

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