Execution of CA Death Row Inmate Stan
"Tookie" Williams set for Dec 13th, 2005
11-06-05
John Thielking
The co-founder of the Crips street gang in Los Angeles is set to be
executed on Dec 13, 2005.
This case sets a precident for courts nationwide being allowed to look
the other way when allegations of prosecution misconduct surface after
a murder conviction. Specifically, in this case the Supreme court let a
9th Circuit court ruling stand that affirms that it is ok for
prosecutors to exclude blacks from a black defendant's jury on the
basis of race* and it is ok for prosecutors to have prisoners shackled
in front of the jury, that it is ok for prosecutors to make strongly
biased statements to the jury likening the defendant to a wild animal
in a zoo, and that it is ok for the police to beat witnesses until they
give the story that the prosecution wants (as long as a couple of years
pass between the beating and the trial). It also raises
disturbing allegations that Williams may be innocent of the crimes he
was convicted of as numerous pieces of physical evidence point to his
innocence. The 9th circuit court did make history, however, when
it reccomended clemency for Tookie, citing Tookie's work writing
children's books urging kids to avoid joining gangs and avoid
violence. This work has inspired former gang members from around
the world to give up on being members of a gang.
*The actual reason the prosecution gave for excluding at least one
black juror at Tookie's trial was because he had a work schedule
conflict. This should
not normally be reason enough to exclude a juror.
Nov 21, 2005 is International Tookie Teach-In Day. Look for it at
a school near you.
For more information visit http://www.savetookie.org
and http://www.tookie.com
A "Save Tookie" rally
featuring Rap artist Snoop Dogg is planned for 10AM-12PM Saturday,
November 19,
2005 just outside San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, CA (near Hwy
580 and Hwy 101 just North of San Francisco, CA).
Free
Radio Santa Cruz PSA about Williams and Williams' message from Death Row
Update 11/20/05:
Pictures
from the 11/19/05 rally at San Quentin, CA.
Free
Radio Santa Cruz Interview with Barbara Becknell, Stan Tookie Williams
advocate talks about the case and how he may be innocent.
International Save Tookie
Day is Wednesday, November 30, 2005, in conjunction with World Cities
Against the Death Penalty Day. There will be a rally and press
conference at San Francisco City Hall 12 Noon. For more
info contact tookie@tookie.com or call 510-235-9780.
There will also be a teach in at Earth and Marine Siences B206 at UCSC
at 7:30PM Nov 30, 2005 featuring Angela Davis and Paul Ortiz.
Santa Cruz will be declared as a "World City Against the Death Penalty" by Santa Cruz Mayor Mike Rotkin at a rally at Santa Cruz City Hall, 809
Center st. at 12:00 Noon Nov 30, 2005. For
more info and discussion of Tookie's case (including a map of UCSC so
you can find the teach-in), visit http://www.santacruz.indymedia.org.
CA Supreme court denies Stan Tookie
Williams' latest petition to rehear his case, 11/30/05.
Danny Glover
invites you to a screening of "Redemption: The Stan Tookie
Williams Story"
Where:
Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th Street in San Francisco
(next to the
16th Street and Mission BART Station)
When:
December 04, 2005 at 5pm
Why:
Help STOP The December 13th, 2005 EXECUTION of Nobel Peace Prize
Nominee Stan
Tookie Williams. Tickets $5/$10. Proceeds benefit the San Francisco
Save Tookie Coalition.
To send Gov Schwarzenegger
a message visit: http://www.governor.ca.gov/state/govsite/gov_contacts.jsp
Please act by December 8, 2005 as this is the day when the Governor
will meet with attorneys from both sides to discuss Clemency for
Williams. There is also a people's Clemency hearing planned for
the Capitol steps at 10:00 AM to 12 noon on Dec 8th, endorsed by
Pagesincolor.com
as well as many other individuals and groups.
Special message to Gov Schwarzenegger: This
governor (VA) granted clemency Nov 29, 2005 and you can too.
12-08-05 Updates:
Schwarzenegger
Weighs Clemency For Tookie Williams
Demonstrators
rally for Stanley Williams' clemency in Sacramento
Demonstration Scheduled
for Dec 8th in Sacramento
Group
Reminds Calif. Gov. Schwarzenegger of Reasons Not to Protect
Unrepentant Killer Stanley 'Tookie' Williams
12-11-05 Update:
DECEMBER 12 - San Francisco to San Quentin Walk for Abolition The Walk
For Abolition begins at the Palace of Legion of Honor in San Francisco
at 7 am and ends at the gates of San Quentin Prison around 6 pm. For
information, contact Rev. Lyle Grosjean at 510-895-8203 or email
l.grosjean@sbcglobal.net.
San Quentin State Prison RALLY AT 8:00PM, December 12 EAST GATE OF SAN
QUENTIN You can park on Francisco Blvd. E. but expect to walk 1-1.5
Miles to get to the East Gate of San Quentin. Contact:
stefanie@deathpenalty.org or 415-243-0143.
To get to San Quentin, take I-580 North from Richmond/880 and get off
at the first exit on the Marin side of the bridge. Parking is
straight ahead. San Quentin is to the left under the overpass.
For more info visit http://www.nodeathpenalty.org
.
As of this evening, the Governor had not granted Clemency and the
defense was making another appeal to the CA Supreme Court to reopen the
case, based on incomplete review of the evidence at the original trial.
12-12-05 Update:
The Governor has denied Clemency for Williams. The chat room will
be hosted until 12 Midnight or a little later Dec 12.
Chat about Tookie Williams
in the Pagesincolor.com
chat room. The chat room is
hosted 7PM-9PM Pacific Time
Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday thru Dec 13th, but you can visit
anytime. The chat room will be hosted until 12 midnight Dec 12th.
Update on the chat room: There were a few people who visited the
chat room on Dec 12-13, 2005. About 20 people wandered through at
various points during the night, from 7PM to 12:45 AM, a bit fewer than
the number of people who visited the Town Clock in Santa Cruz that
night. The peak traffic was 8 people all in the chat room
simultaneously at about 11:45PM-12:45AM. One lurker had the
handle "abc". Another participant was a Philadelphia Police
Officer. Pagesincolor welcomes all persuasions to visit here.
Dec 18th Update: Activists' reactions to the execution of Stan
"Tookie" Williams and report on the scene outside San Quentin on the
night of Dec 12th, 2005.
In memory of Stan "Tookie" Williams: Dec. 29, 1953-Dec.
13, 2005
Mourn, and Organize
When justice is blind to innocence, a modification by the people is
required. It is you, the people, who must speak out with a powerful
voice to help expedite justice.--- Stanley Tookie Williams
To get involved, visit http://www.nodeathpenalty.org
or call (773) 955-4841.
Local Bay Area Meetings and actions will follow:
Campaign to End the Death Penalty Action Alert
Stan Tookie Williams was executed early Tuesday morning after Governor
Schwarzenegger refused to grant Stan clemency. A number of actions took
place yesterday, including a protest at the gates of San Quentin, and
demonstrations and vigils in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C.,
New York City and others. Thousands of people condemned this execution.
There is no doubt that this is a blow to our side. We lost someone who
not only showed redemption was possible, but was living his life,
confined in a cell the size of a bathroom and doing more to lead kids
away from joining gangs than any lawmaker, politician or criminal
justice court.
In killing Stan, they're trying to kill the hope he has inspired in so
many that they could have a second chance--that they could ever turn
their lives around. Now that Stan is dead, the ruthlessness of our
politicians and our criminal injustice system is laid bare. It's
ugly--real ugly. One need only read the governor's statement on why he
denied Stan clemency to see just how ugly.
We must keep up the fight. We must use our sense of outrage to fuel our
continued mobilization. We need to remember those we have lost to
capital punishment and fight on in their names--Stan Tookie Williams,
Wesley Baker, Frances Newton, Napoleon Beasley, Tyrone X Gilliam, Shaka
Sankofa, Karla Faye Tucker and so many others.
And we must use the broad, multiracial fightback we were able to build
in support of Stan to spark the efforts to win a moratorium in
California, and to get rid of the death penalty altogether. That is the
best way to remember Stan and all the others who have been killed by
the state; it's to fight on.
If you aren't already, please get involved. Work with the Campaign to
End the Death Penalty--join a chapter closest to you. Go to our website
at http://www.nodeathpenalty.org and click on the "get involved" button
to find a listing of our chapters. If no chapters are close to where
you live,
consider starting one. Send me an e-mail if you are interested.
--Marlene Martin, CEDP
Report From San Quentin:
California Murders Tookie Williams
Counterpunch, December 13, 2005
By PHIL GASPER
A report from the gates of San Quentin on the night of Dec 12
2005. Includes an analysis of and a link to the text of the
Governor's denial of clemency statement.
To read the
article, click here: http://www.counterpunch.org.
THE EXECUTION OF STANLEY TOOKIE WILLIAMS
Eyewitness: Prisoner did not die meekly, quietly
Kevin Fagan, San Francisco Chronicle, Wednesday, December 14, 2005
To
read the article , click here: http://www.sfgate.com.
Sneering At Redemption: Why
Arnold Killed Tookie
By Dave Zirin 12-14-05
In the end, we can only assume the decision wasn't so "agonizing" after
all. Last night Stan Tookie Williams was legally lynched by the state
of California, at the behest of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who
denied Williams' appeal for clemency. The Governor deemed that a man
who had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times and
brokered gang truces from Newark to South Central was not worthy to
walk and breathe among us. Stan's case for clemency was so
compelling it was articulated by people from Desmond Tutu to Snoop
Dogg, and yet, watching Schwarzenegger in action has been to observe
the nexus of cold-hearted political calculation and cowardice.
Williams' Attorney John Harris challenged the governor to meet with
Tookie, saying to the San Francisco Chronicle, "It's impossible to me
to believe that if you had met Stanley Williams and spent time with
him, that you would not believe in his personal redemption." But that
would require a courage the Governor has never
demonstrated. Unlike the movie tough guy always ready to look his
victims in the eye -- a quip at the ready -- before shooting, stabbing,
or beheading them, Arnold made his decision at safe remove,
hanging out this weekend at his son's soccer game, his face a
waxy mask of carefree detachment, while Tookie's supporters organized,
marched, chanted and prayed themselves hoarse.
When it finally came time for Arnold to announce his personal judgment
that Stan Williams should die, tragedy became farce. The Governor's
office released an ugly scandalous diatribe that qualifies as nothing
less than hate-speech. As he - or his script doctor - wrote, "The
dedication of Williams' book Life in Prison casts significant doubt on
his personal redemption. This book was published in 1998 several years
after Williams' redemptive experience. Specifically the book is
dedicated to Nelson Mandela, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, Assata Shakur,
Geronimo Ji Jaga Pratt, Ramona Africa, John Africa, Leonard Peltier,
George Jackson, Mumia Abu Jamal, and the countless other men, women,
and youths, who have to endure the hellish oppression of living behind
bars. The mix of individuals on this list is curious. Most have
violent pasts and some have been convicted of committing heinous
murders including the killing of law enforcement. But the inclusion
of George Jackson on this list defies reason and is a significant
indicator that Williams is not reformed and that he still sees violence
and lawlessness as a legitimate means to address societal problems."
For Tookie, all of these folks, from Mandela, to Malcolm, to Assata,
are one and the same: people of color who strove for liberation in the
darkest of circumstances. For Schwarzenegger, the whole lot is the same
as well: people who are his political enemies because they refused to
be broken. Notice the singling out of George Jackson, author of Soledad
Brother, a book for which there is no evidence Schwarzenegger has so
much as skimmed. Jackson was someone who despite being framed for his
political activism never stopped organizing. That is the person
Schwarzenegger wants to kill by executing
Tookie.
Later, Arnold passes judgment on Williams' very redemption, writing,
"Is Williams' redemption complete and sincere, or is it just a hollow
promise?.
. . Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal
killings there can be no redemption." In other words, because Williams
has consistently defended his own innocence, he should die. But as
Tookie oncesaid, "Many people expect me to apologize for crimes I
didn't commit--just to save my life. Of course I want to live, but not
by having to lie."
While not surprising Arnold did not have the courage to face Tookie and
spew this nonsense to his face, it certainly would have been incredible
theatre.
In fact, it would have been something of a reunion. In the late 1970s,
Arnold and Tookie, about fifty life times ago, admired each other's
biceps on Muscle Beach in Venice, California. "Your arms are like
thighs!" Arnold grinned. Amazing the difference thirty years makes. In
that time, Arnold rode his muscles and Teutonic good looks from
Hollywood stardom to the Governor's mansion. Yes, he had a spotty past
including many allegations of sexual assault and drug abuse. But he
passed that off as youthful indiscretion, claimed that he had changed,
and a pliant media were happy to believe that Arnold was worthy of
forgiveness and redemption.
Tookie, like Arnold, also fashioned an unlikely political career. But
his began not with Hollywood riches but as the target of the
tough-on-crime laws of the Clinton-Bush years which saw the nation's
prison population balloon from more than one to two million. He was
convicted of murder in a manner that would make Strom Thurmond proud,
called a "Bengal tiger" by a prosecutor who engineered an all-white
jury to make sure the "Crip founder" found San Quentin. While Arnold
cozied up to the Bush and Kennedy clans, Tookie read dictionaries in
solitary, wrote letters to gang kids in LA, and became that most
dangerous of political beings: a Black leader in racist America.
In one of his final interviews he said, "So, as long as I have breath,
I will continue to do what I can to proliferate a positive message
throughout this country and abroad to youths everywhere, of all colors
or gender and geographical area, and I will continue to do what I can
to help. I want to be a part of the, you know, the solution."
Now another tragedy, along with the murders of Albert Owens, Yen-I
Yang, Tsai-Shai Chen Yang, and Yu-Chin Yang Lin, has taken place
because Stan Tookie has been put to death. But the tragedy is not
theirs to bear alone.
Tonight children are being born to mothers without health insurance, in
neighborhoods politicians don't enter without SWAT teams, news cameras,
and latex gloves. The political class has already branded these kids as
human waste. But many of them could have found another path, because
Stanley Tookie Williams would have been there to intervene in their
lives and show another way.
Now it's up to those of us who stood with Tookie to keep on pushing.
This is Schwarzenegger's "mission accomplished" moment for his right
wing, pro-death
base. But his "mission" will fail. He is part of a 21st century set of
rulers who have repeatedly shown, whether in Baghdad or New Orleans,
that they are unfit to rule. Their brutality will be met with
resistance in the tradition of Nelson Mandela, Angela Davis, Malcolm X,
Leonard Peltier, George Jackson... and Stanley Tookie Williams.
[Dave Zirin is the author of "'What's My Name Fool?': Sports and
Resistance in the United States" (Haymarket Books). He is a regular
writer for the
Nation and a columnist for Slam Magazine. You can reach him by emailing
dave@edgeofsports.com and you can get his column every week by sending a
blank email to edgeofsports-subscribe@zirin.com]
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