Kim Kardashian West has urged President Donald Trump to stop an upcoming federal execution of 40-year-old Brandon Bernard, who was convicted for his involvement in a fatal robbery.
Kardashian West, who is studying to become a lawyer, has publicly advocated for Bernard on Twitter, urging Trump to remove him from death row and give him a life in prison sentence instead.
A terrible case has been brought to my attention and I need your help. Without it, on December 12th Brandon Bernard is going to be executed for a crime he participated in as a teenager. pic.twitter.com/PkbpAprMbv
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) November 29, 2020
When he was 18, Bernard was involved in a robbery plot in 1999 that resulted in the murders of youth ministers Todd and Stacie Bagley.
According to court documents obtained by The New York Times, Bernard set fire to their car after they were killed by his accomplice, Christopher Vialva.
“First, I want to say that a terrible crime was committed and me fighting for a stay of execution does not take away from the sympathy I have for the victim’s Todd and Stacie Bagley, and their families,” Kardashian West tweeted.
“My heart breaks for everyone involved.”
She continued, “While Brandon did participate in this crime, his role was minor compared to that of the other teens involved, two of whom are home from prison now.”
Instead of being executed, Kardashian West said she believes Bernard should live out his sentence in prison.
“He has now been on death row for 20+ years with zero disciplinary write ups,” she tweeted, adding that Bernard has used his time in prison to reach out to at-risk youths.
In July, the Trump administration resumed carrying out the federal death penalty after an almost 20-year suspension of the punishment.
Bernard’s accomplice Vialva, who was 19 at the time, was executed in September. According to the NYT, Bernard will be put to death, via lethal injection, on December 10.
Kardashian West was one of many who successfully advocated for the release of Alice Marie Johnson who, in 1996, was convicted for her non-violent, first offence involvement in a drug trafficking organisation. Prior to her release, Johnson had been serving a life sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, in Aliceville, Alabama.
In 2018, Kardashian West attended a meeting at the White House with the outgoing president to discuss prison reform in America and push for Johnson’s release.
Last June, she announced her partnership with ride-sharing company Lyft, which provided soon-to-be released prisoners with Lyft rides to and from job interviews.
