How could a student effectively write Mr. Underwood's editorial about the killing of Tom Robinson in prison?

In Chapter 25 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Mr. Underwood writes what Scout describes as a "bitter" editorial in The Maycomb Tribune about Tom Robinson's death. Not caring about who cancels their advertisements or subscriptions, Mr. Underwood writes that, in Scout's words, "it was a sin to kill cripples... He likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children" (page numbers vary according to the edition). In other words, Mr. Underwood finds Tom Robinson's death at the hands of prison guards defenseless because, like a songbird, Tom Robinson is harmless. Tom was a decent, moral man who never caused any problems before a white woman unfairly accused him of rape.

If you were writing Mr. Underwood's editorial, you'd have to think whether you agree with him. Was Tom Robinson's death senseless, or were the prison guards right to shoot Tom as he was supposedly trying to escape? Did Tom really pose a threat? Most likely, Tom did not pose a threat, so the guards were wrong to shoot him. You would want to also include the nature of Tom Robinson's trial in your editorial. There is a great deal of evidence that Tom was not guilty, and you might point out the flawed nature of the justice system in Maycomb. In other words, Tom Robinson should've never been in prison in the first place, so his death was particularly senseless.