If you can not view the video below of a TV news report on the protest in Austin at the Capitol of the 200th execution, you can click here to watch it on YouTube.

200th execution protests also took place in Houston, Huntsville, Montreal, New Mexico, Paris France (June 3), Brussels Belgium and Leipzig Germany and other cities.

From Fox7News:

Terry Lee Hankins apologized for killing five of his family members before being execute in Huntsville Tuesday night.

His execution marks #200 under Governor Rick Perry–a milestone that’s creating protest across the state.
The 200 names were read aloud on the steps of the Capitol. For each name, a member of the “Campaign to End the Death Penalty” dropped a single candle inside a ceremonial coffin.

“The death penalty is wrong. It doesn’t deter crime. It doesn’t decrease murder or violent crime in Texas,” claims Matthew Gossage, who protested with a poster.

He joined members of the “Campaign to End the Death Penalty” on the same evening Terry Lee Hankins was put to death.

At 6 p.m., a moment of silence marked his execution in Huntsville.

Hankins was convicted for the 2001 slayings of his two step-children and their mother, Tammy Hankins, near Fort Worth. During the investigation, Hankins told officers he had also killed his father and half-sister the year before.

“I just hink the fact that he’s executing at such a speed, when the trend nationally is turning against capital punishment–shame on Governor Perry,” said Laura Brady.

Governor Rick Perry’s Press Secretary released this statement to FOX 7 News:

“Like most Texans, the Governor believes capital punishment is the appropriate punishment for those who commit the most heinous crime.”

Laura Brady responded with, “The death penalty is an embarrassment. It’s inexcusable.”

“I have an innocent brother on Death Row,” Delia Perez Meyer said, “His name is Louis Castro Perez, who’s falsly convicted of murdering three of his friends in September of 1998.”

On the Capitol steps, there are those who are waiting on the fate of loved ones, and waiting on Texas to change its ideals on the death penalty.

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