About 190,000 signatures have been collected between two petitions aimed at freeing "Making a Murderer" subject Steven Avery.
Avery is serving a life sentence for the murder of a female photographer last believed to be taking photos of a car on the Avery family property in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. The Netflix documentary series covers the trial and conviction of Avery and his teen nephew, Brendan Dassey, in the killing. Many believe that the series shows that Avery wasn't given a fair trial and that the investigation of him was severely flawed.
The first petition was created December 20 at the White House website. It asks President Barack Obama to pardon Avery and Dassey, who is also serving a life sentence.
"Based on the evidence in the Netflix documentary series 'Making a Murderer,' the justice system embarrassingly failed both men, completely ruining their entire lives," the creator of the petition wrote.
It has more than 19,000 signatures. It needs to reach 100,000 signatures in 30 days to receive a response from the White House, giving it until January 19.
The other petition can be found at Change.org. It also asks the president to pardon Avery.
The Change.org petition's creator, Michael Seyedian, said that after viewing the Netflix series he was "outraged with the injustices which have been allowed to compound and left unchecked in the case of Steven Avery of Manitowoc County in Wisconsin, U.S.A."
Seyedian continued:
Avery's unconstitutional mistreatment at the hands of corrupt local law enforcement is completely unacceptable and is an abomination of due process.
Steven Avery should be exonerated at once by presidential pardon, and the Manitowoc County officials complicit in his two false imprisonments should be held accountable to the highest extent of the U.S. criminal and civil justice systems.
As of the posting of this article, the petition had reached more than 170,000 signatures of the 200,000-signature goal.
The petitions are just a couple of ways viewers have expressed their anger over the events portrayed in "Making a Murderer." Others have targeted former Calumet County prosecutor Ken Kratz for successfully winning Avery and Dassey's convictions. And close viewers have gone online to investigate and discuss the evidence they believe should have freed the men.
Both Avery and Dassey have appealed their convictions.
MORE: The 'Making a Murderer' prosecutor is being flooded with online attacks by Steven Avery defenders