[kj] OT: Tookie and Arnie

[Pat]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4523502.stm
     Last Updated: Tuesday, 13 December 2005, 10:51 GMT
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   US ex-gang boss Williams executed
   [image: Stanley "Tookie" Williams] Williams always denied the murders
*Former gang leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams has been executed by lethal
injection, 24 years after he was convicted of killing four people.*

Several hundred of his supporters gathered outside San Quentin prison, north
of San Francisco, where he was declared dead at 0035 (0835GMT).

He denied the murders and, while in jail, campaigned against gang violence.

California Governor Schwarzenegger questioned his claims of redemption and
refused to grant clemency.

Journalists who witnessed the execution said the mood in the execution
chamber was sombre. Williams exchanged many glances with his supporters
before his death, they said.

    *I could find no justification for granting clemency*
 Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor of California


 *Governor's statement*<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4523352.stm>
*Your views*<http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=573&edition=1>

They said he became frustrated at a delay of several minutes as prison staff
struggled to insert the needle. They saw him talking to his guards
throughout the process.

After his death, his supporters declared: "The State of California has
killed an innocent man," said MSNBC anchor Rita Cosby.

Family members of one of the victims, Albert Owens, also witnessed the
execution. They, and in particular his stepmother Lora Owens, appeared very
upset, Ms Cosby added.

After his death, Williams' foremost supporter and editor of his books,
Barbara Becnel, said they would continue to fight to clear his name.

*'No redemption'*

Williams spent the hours before his death receiving friends and reading
letters from his supporters, said prison officials. He refused a last meal
and a meeting with a spiritual adviser.

Terry Thornton, a Corrections Department spokeswoman, described him as
"quiet and thoughtful".

   [image: Anti-death penalty protesters raise their arms in support of
Stanley 'Tookie' Williams outside St Quentin prison]


 *In pictures: Vigil for
Williams*<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4523840.stm>

On Monday evening, the US Supreme Court refused a stay of execution, as had
California's Supreme Court and a federal appeals court.

With the rejection of his appeal by the US Supreme Court, Williams exhausted
all legal avenues.

Earlier on Monday, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger denied clemency
after "studying the evidence, searching the history, listening to the
arguments and wrestling with the profound consequences".

"The facts do not justify overturning the jury's verdict or the decisions of
the courts in this case," said Mr Schwarzenegger, who could have commuted
the death sentence to life in prison without parole.

*'Evidence decision'*

Williams co-founded Crips, one of the world's biggest and deadliest gangs,
in Los Angeles in 1971.

He always denied the 1979 murders of Albert Owens in a convenience store
hold-up, and an elderly Taiwanese immigrant couple and their daughter at a
motel they ran.

  [image: Stanley 'Tookie' Williams aged 29 in the exercise yard at St
Quentin prison] Williams' supporters say he became a reformed character in
prison

During his 24 years in jail, Williams denounced gang violence and won praise
for his anti-gang books, earning Nobel Peace Prize nominations for his
teachings.

A high-profile campaign to save him was backed by celebrities including
Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx, rap star Snoop Dogg - himself a former Crips
gang member - Bishop Desmond Tutu and the Reverend Jesse Jackson.

However, the relatives of some of his victims insisted he did not deserve
clemency because he had not owned up to his crimes and refused to inform on
fellow gang members.

Lora Owens said before the execution she felt "justice is going to be done
tonight".

"I don't like it being said it's a political decision. It was an evidence
decision," she was quoted on the CNN website as saying.



On 12/13/05, Bish <salja at tiscali.co.uk> wrote:
>
> Apologies for my ignorance, who is tookie ?
>
> nicholas fitzpatrick wrote:
>
> > And today's big issue is: Should Tookie have been put to death?
> >
> > I don't know enough about the facts to say at the moment. Not that it
> > matters.
> >
> > Is it true that it was his lawyers that nominated him for the Nobel
> > Peace Prize? That's what someone on the BBC website said, but then
> > that's about as reliable a source as The Gathering ;)
> >
> > Nick
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Gathering mailing list
> > Gathering at misera.net
> > http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering
> >
> >
> _______________________________________________
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--
Pat
www.amag.org.uk
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