Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., speaks during the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the Special Diabetes Program on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on July 11, 2023. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for JDRF)
"After speaking to Samantha Burns’ parents, I believe it is my duty to speak on their behalf and say President Biden’s decision to commute the death sentences for the two men convicted in her brutal murder is horribly misguided and insulting," the lawmaker declared in a statement posted on X.
"Particularly since Samantha’s family wrote letters to President Biden & the Department of Justice, pleading for them not to do this, but their concerns were unheard. I can’t imagine the grief that Kandi and John Burns are reliving and dealing with during the holiday season," Manchin continued. "As their U.S. Senator and a father, I want to express my deepest sympathy for their continued suffering. Please know that Samantha will forever be in our prayers."
Chadrick Fulks is escorted by U.S. Marshals out of the federal courthouse in Huntington, West Virginia, on April 12, 2005, following an arraignment on charges of carjacking resulting in the death of Marshall University student Samantha Burns, use of a firearm to commit a crime and interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle. (AP Photo/The Herald-Dispatch, Randy Snyder)
In a fiery Christmas Day post on Truth Social, President-elect Trump told the 37 individuals who escaped capital punishment to "GO TO HELL!"
In a statement about the commutations, President Biden said, "I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss."
OUTGOING SEN. JOE MANCHIN PUSHES CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT FOR SUPREME COURT TERM LIMITS
President Biden speaks at the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 16. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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But he also said that he was "more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level."
"These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my Administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder," Biden said.
Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/manchin-calls-bidens-clemency-two-killers-horribly-misguided-insulting