Unabomber's brother visits University

After speaking at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill Tuesday, David Kaczynski, the Unabomber's brother, spoke to a 10-person class at Duke Wednesday, focusing on the class' theme: public apology and reconciliation.

Kaczynski made news when in 1996 he alerted the FBI that his brother Theodore may be the Unabomber, responsible for a two-decade killing spree. David Kaczynski discussed with the Writing 20 class his decision to turn in is his brother and the repercussions of the action.

"I faced an incredible dilemma. Seemed like any choice I made could be harmful to someone," Kaczynski told the class. "I would either be responsible for the death of innocent people or probably the death of my own brother. Either way, I had blood on my hands."

Now the executive director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, Kaczynski was invited to give a two-hour speech by a UNC-CH group called Campaign to End the Death Penalty. Since Jan. 1, he said he has spoken about 40 times, including on many college campuses.

Kaczynski said he has opposed the death penalty since he was 12, although the cause now has new significance for him.

"[My speaking] gets people thinking about the death penalty at a deeper level. Usually people think about it hypothetically or superficially, and hearing a human story adds a new dimension to it," he said. "We are deceiving ourselves if we think that when we execute someone, we are not executing a human being."

Kaczynski also critiqued the criminal justice system as a whole, saying it neglected the sacredness of human life by dividing the issues and people in cases into categories of "black and white, good and evil."

Ari Kohen, a third-year graduate student in political science, has worked with leaders of the UNC-CH group and was approached by one after the speech Tuesday night, who asked if he had any ideas about what Kaczynski could do Wednesday before he left. Kohen suggested that he come speak to his 1:10 class.