On July 8, Gary Tyler visited Detroit for a gallery showing of his artwork at the Library Street Collective (LSC). As a 16-year-old youth Tyler was framed, convicted and sentenced to die in the electric chair for a crime that he did not commit. After the Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana’s death penalty law was unconstitutional, Tyler spent almost 42 years behind bars in the notorious Angola State Penitentiary.

The Workers League (WL) and Young Socialists (YS), forerunners of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), organized a national and international campaign for his release.

In this video, SEP Assistant National Secretary Lawrence Porter speaks with Tyler about his experiences and the conclusions that he has drawn.