Press Inquiries/Further Information: Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood (Anthony Sanchez Spiritual Advisor) / [email protected] / 404-210-6760 THE DAD DID IT / THE SON IS ABOUT TO BE EXECUTED FOR IT #FREEANTHONYSANCHEZ On December 20, 1996, the body of Jewell Busken was found near Lake Stanley Draper in Cleveland County, Oklahoma. There was single gunshot wound to the back of her head. For several years, the offense was considered unsolved by authorities. On July 26, 2004, an Oklahoma State Bureau... Read more
THEOSEMANTICS amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSP9FMHT?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tpbk With regards to spirituality, words should have a certain amount of elasticity to them…meaning they should spring us to something else…something beyond words. I haven’t always thought this way. In fact, I used to think that words were set. I used to believe that God was bound by our words. I believed in the inerrant infallible word of God. Then, I started thinking about what the word was. Which word or which set of... Read more
January 22, 2023 The Anthony Sanchez Story: Prison Conversations *This is a paraphrased interview with Anthony Sanchez, who was wrongly convicted of killing Juli Busken (murdered in Norman, Oklahoma in 1996) and sits on death row scheduled for execution in the coming months. Jeff Hood: When was the first time that you heard the name Juli Busken? Anthony Sanchez: There were some officers who came to the prison that I... Read more
Nonviolent Activism, Stress and a Major Victory in Oklahoma: On Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s Motion to Delay Executions Less than a week ago, I peacefully stood next to the gurney while the State of Oklahoma killed Scott Eizember. I didn’t arrive at that place of ministry easily. In fact, the Department of Corrections (DOC) was determined to make sure that I wasn’t allowed to be there. Undeterred, fellow activists (and lawyer allies) and I launched a campaign to... Read more
“To be absent from the body is to be present with God.” Scott Eizember’s final days were filled with talk of what was to come. While we both had questions, I have no doubt that we both had hope. I guess hope is often the best we can do. Of course, faith is the outcome of hope…even the assurance of things hoped for. In Scott’s final days, he developed hope…a lasting hope. So often, we try to make... Read more
“I didn’t kill nobody!” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard it before. One of the hazards of working with guys on death row is that you catch more than your fair share of bullshit. Most of the time such talk doesn’t pan out. Most folk on death row have committed heinous crimes. That doesn’t mean they should be executed but it does mean that the phrase “I didn’t kill nobody!” isn’t often accurate. Yet, in... Read more
“This way!” From the point that I arrived at Oklahoma State Penitentiary to the moment I left, I was surrounded by officers. For someone aware of the many videos of police brutality, such attention is everything but comforting. I guess I should’ve expected it. After all, I was the wildly dangerous pastor seeking entrance into Oklahoma’s Execution Chamber. For over a week, I’d been fighting to arrive at this point. From filing a federal lawsuit to pushing back on... Read more
Danger seems to be lurking everywhere. Not the danger that will kill you immediately. More so, the type of danger that will kill you slowly…one choice at a time. I never thought it would be this hard. You see, I’m a purist. I believe in moral absolutes…or at least I did. There is nothing clear about working with guys on death row. Of course, there is no question that we are called to befriend and defend the condemned. The... Read more
Scott Eizember & Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood Sue OK Department of Corrections for Violation of Religious Freedom Background: Scott Eizember is scheduled to be executed on January 12, 2023. Like every other prisoner on death row in the United States, Eizember was given the opportunity to choose a minister to accompany him during his execution. He chose his trusted friend and mentor, Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, who has now visited Mr. Eizember in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester without incident for... Read more
Police brutality thrives in places of ambiguity. Places where everyone assumes that trust is shared. Places where the past is assumed to have already passed. Places where everybody says that people are just people. Places with few questions and countless answers. Places like Tulsa, Oklahoma. On the night of August 25, 2005, Mitch Thompson, Tara Burchette-Thompson and 10-year-old Kyla Burchette were brutally murdered. When an event like this happens in a predominantly white town, vengeance is swift…especially when the majority of the victims... Read more
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