A letter from Howard Guidry

This is a letter from Howard Guidry that was read today at the Rodney Reed protest in Austin.

Rodney Reed is a friend. Rodney Reed is a friend of mine. He is a solid brother who has weathered a decade of racially profiled prosecution. Living in the crushing hands of Texas death row he has not only persevered, he fought tooth and nail the whole way. It is a crime that this man has spent the prime of his life confined to one cage or another fighting a crime he did not commit. His children have become adults without their father and Rodney has become more determined to return to them with each passing day.

The Rodney Reed case is a glaring reminder that the ghost of Jim Crow law and mob justice still exist in the state of Texas.

Despite overwhelming evidence of Rodney's innocence, the fact remains that he is a Black man accused of killing a white woman.

In Texas, that constitutes capital murder. One won't find that article of law under the capital murder statute of the state's penal code but countless incarcerated Black men can attest to its existence.

I’d like to thank all of you who are here today and all of the people who have carried on the struggle to save my brother's life for so many years.

Stand up against this modern day attempt to lynch another Black man. Stand up against the racist police officer who set up Rodney Reed. Stand against the judicial system that allowed this frame-up to happen. Stand up and fight with the same determination and fortitude that Rodney Reed has displayed for the last 10 years End the racist death penalty!

Free Rodney Reed!

Howard Guidry,

Another innocent man on Texas’ death row.