Daryl Lawrence was sentenced for the death of Columbus police officer Bryan Hurst.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, including a man convicted of killing a Columbus police officer nearly 20 years ago.
The president announced on Monday that he Is converting their punishments to life imprisonment just weeks before Donald Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office for a second time.
One of the people affected by the announcement is Daryl Lawrence, who was sentenced in the death of Columbus police officer Bryan Hurst.
On Jan. 6, 2005, 33-year-old Hurst was working special duty at the Fifth Third Bank at 6265 East Broad St. when Lawrence entered the building with a handgun. He killed Hurst during an exchange of gunfire.
The Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9 released a statement, saying it was disappointed in President Biden’s decision to commute Lawrence’s death sentence.
“The decision to commute the sentence of Daryl Lawrence is an inexcusable affront to the memory of Officer Bryan Hurst and the law enforcement community as a whole,” Union president Brian Steel said. “Bryan made the ultimate sacrifice, and this decision undermines the justice that was rightfully served for his murder.”
Steel added that the police union will stand with Bryan’s family and the Columbus Division of Police in solidarity.
“We owe it to Bryan and to all officers who put their lives on the line every day to continue advocating for justice. Our message to the public and to policymakers is clear – the lives of police officers matter, and those who take them must face the full measure of justice.”
Three federal inmates are still facing execution. They are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of life Synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history.
