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Posted by: kwflatbed

By KIM CURTIS

Associated Press Writer
SAN QUENTIN, California- As murderer and Crips co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams tries to stave off execution next month, California prison officials have launched an unusual counterattack against the notion that he has redeemed himself behind bars.


The Corrections Department earlier this month posted a press release on its Web site about the upcoming execution, detailing Williams' crimes and asserting that he has been a gang leader while on death row at San Quentin Prison.

San Quentin spokesman Vernell Crittendon, speaking on behalf of the department, went further in an interview last week, saying he suspects Williams is orchestrating gangland crimes from his cell.

"I just don't know that his heart is changed," Crittendon said.

Williams, 51, has been behind bars since 1979, when he shot and killed four people during two robberies in Los Angeles. He has been on death row since 1981 and is set to die by injection Dec. 13 in what could be the biggest death-row cause celebre in California since capital punishment was reinstated in 1978.

He and a childhood friend founded the Crips in 1971 in Los Angeles, and in the years that followed, the gang did battle with its main rival, the Bloods, for territory and control of the drug trade, leaving hundreds dead. Hundreds of offshoots and copycat gangs with thousands of members have emerged across the nation.

Williams' supporters contend he has made amends for his crimes, and they are pleading with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to spare his life.

In prison, Williams has gained international acclaim for writing children's books about the dangers of gang life. He has been nominated repeatedly for the Nobel Peace Prize. (In truth, anyone can nominate anyone.) And he has attracted a cadre of celebrity supporters, including Jamie Foxx, who played Williams in a TV movie, "MASH" actor Mike Farrell and rapper Snoop Dogg, who is scheduled to appear at a rally Saturday outside the prison.

The Los Angeles District Attorney's office is expected to respond to Williams' clemency request this week. But Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman April Harding said there is no evidence of any illegal gang activity on Williams' part.

"None," she said. "His name doesn't come up."

Williams supporters called the prison system's allegations ridiculous.

"What troubles me about the devaluing of Stan's work and its impact on many low-income youngsters ... is they're saying, `We don't care if Stanley Tookie Williams could help another 5,000, 10,000 or 100,000 kids,'" said Barbara Becnel, the inmate's spokeswoman.

In his 2004 memoir, "Blue Rage, Black Redemption," Williams said that his gangster life ended in 1992, and that he knew prison officials "would try at every turn to discredit me."

State Sen. Gloria Romero, a Los Angeles Democrat, called the Correction Department's allegations an effort to malign Williams and an abuse of power.

"I do see it as a very serious offense and one that is intended to help the governor make up his mind," she said. Schwarzenegger, who has not spared anyone's life on death row, has not said whether he will schedule a clemency hearing.

Schwarzenegger, who is in China on a trade mission, on Thursday said he is "dreading" the decision. "It's never a fun thing to do, let me tell you ...You're dealing with someone's life," he told reporters.

On its Web site, the Correction Department said of Williams: "By 1994, having firmly entrenched himself as the leader of the Crips at San Quentin, he wielded his power as his lieutenants and other minions were dispatched to carry out his objectives." The paragraph was removed a day after it was posted following a call from The Associated Press.

Daniel Vasquez, who was warden at San Quentin from 1983 to 1993 and wrote a letter supporting clemency for the last death row inmate executed, said he had never seen such an inflammatory statement in a press release from the prison.

"It's like they're trying to drum up business for death row," he said.

But Crittendon, who has worked at the prison nearly 30 years and regularly deals with Williams, said Williams has refused to formally renounce his gang membership and submit to "debriefing" _ that is, inform on his old friends. Crittendon also cited Williams' willingness to share an exercise yard with Crips and his unusually large prison bank account. And he said Williams' younger son is a trouble-making Crips member in prison for murder.

"A con always will say one thing to you while the whole time he has another agenda," the San Quentin spokesman said. "I'm concerned that possibly this marketing that's going on ... leads the public to hear the words, but not to see that sleight of hand."

In August 2004, a committee of prison officials noted Williams' prior gang activity but said it had not seen any recent gang involvement, according to a report cited by Becnel. The committee commended Williams for his positive steps in the past 10 years.

In his book, Williams addressed nearly all of Crittendon's accusations, saying that informing on gang members would "rip my dignity out of my chest," that he gets along with everyone in the yard, and that his son is trying to change his ways.

As for his bank account, Crittendon said that while other high-profile inmates such as Scott Peterson usually get $10 (euro8.6) or $20 (euro17.2) checks, Williams receives checks for $500 (euro42 or $1,000 (euro856) at a time. But Becnel said people who appreciate Williams' work send him money.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Posted by: kwflatbed

Crips founder set for execution gets private clemency hearing with Schwarzenegger

SAN FRANCISCO California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says he'll consider granting clemency to a former gang leader on death row for a murder conviction.

Stanley "Tookie" Williams founded the Los Angeles-based gang, the Crips. He faces death on December 13th for the 1979 slayings of four people. Williams maintains his innocence.


His lawyers met privately with Governor Schwarzenegger at his Sacramento office and will meet with them again on December eighth. As governor, he has the authority to commute a death sentence to life without parole.


Williams has been nominated five times for a Nobel Peace Prize and four times for the Nobel Prize for literature for his series of children's books and international peace efforts aimed at curtailing youth gang violence.


Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Posted by: K9Vinny

Ask Tookie for an autograph of his book, then flip the switch. Then the book might be valuable.

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Posted by: kwflatbed

Another A-Hole opens his mouth.


Gang founder's death row drama gains star support

By LYNN ELBER
Associated Press Writer



LOS ANGELES- Jamie Foxx stepped into the spotlight at his latest movie premiere with more than the usual publicity drill in mind.




Don't let it happen, the actor urged - don't let the state of California execute Stanley Tookie Williams, the convicted murderer and Crips gang co-founder who's been recast behind bars in the role of peacemaker.

Foxx is not alone. An unusually varied collection of Hollywood stars and other famous names are trying to persuade Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that Williams - who has become a celebrity in his own right - can do more for society alive than dead.

Williams' supporters range from the holy (Archbishop Desmond Tutu) to the streetwise (rapper Snoop Dogg, himself once a Crip).

Whether a movie star governor is more inclined to consider their pleas for clemency is debatable. But the chorus is only growing louder as Williams' Dec. 13 execution by lethal injection approaches.

His supporters cite Williams' efforts to curb youth gang violence, including nine children's books and an online project linking teenagers in America and abroad. A Swiss legislator, college professors and others repeatedly have submitted his name for Nobel peace and literature prizes.

Last weekend, Snoop Dogg told about 1,000 people rallying outside San Quentin State Prison that Williams' activism has touched him.

"His voice needs to be heard," said the musician, whose new song, "Real Soon," touts Williams' anti-gang efforts.

On Monday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Bianca Jagger, a death penalty opponent and former wife of rocker Mick Jagger, visited San Quentin. Jackson said he prayed with Williams, promising, "'We are going to fight for you and we are going to win."

Foxx, who played Williams in "Redemption," a 2004 movie which brought the death row inmate's story to a wider audience, used the New York premiere of "Jarhead" to issue his plea.

In a jailhouse interview last week, Williams said he is unimpressed by his prominent supporters ("I'm blase about everything") and relies on his attorneys to evaluate the benefit of efforts on his behalf.

Hollywood's political and social activism has been known to provoke criticism. But Williams said he is unconcerned his famous boosters could create a backlash that might sway Schwarzenegger against him.

"In the position I'm in, I don't see how anybody can hurt," he said. "The truth is the truth no matter where it comes from."

Williams, 51, who saw the notorious gang he co-founded with a childhood friend spawn copycats worldwide, denies committing the 1979 murders that put him on death row. He was convicted of killing a convenience store worker and, days later, killing two motel owners and their daughter during a robbery.

The crimes Williams was accused of were "heinous," said former "M-A-S-H" star Mike Farrell, a longtime death penalty opponent. But Williams has made "an extraordinary transformation," said Farrell, who's lobbied for him for several years.

In apparent recognition of the power of the pro-Williams movement, the state Department of Corrections launched an unusual counterattack questioning the sincerity of his anti-gang conversion and alleging he remains involved with the Crips.

Lora Owens, stepmother of victim Albert Owens, opposes clemency and resents the celebrity involvement.

"I think most of them are abusing their popularity and their access to the media," she said. "It's an agenda. If they looked at the facts, then they'd realize Williams has not done anything to deserve clemency."

Williams' link to the entertainment world was cemented with the biographical movie shown on TV and at film festivals, including Robert Redford's Sundance. Several of those involved in "Redemption," including Foxx and co-star Lynn Whitfield, have become backers.

"If Stan Tookie Williams had been born in Connecticut in the same type of situation, and was a white man, he would have been running a company," Foxx told the AP when the film aired last year on FX. "But, born a black man who has the capability of having brute strength and the capability of being smart in the ways of the world, he's going to get into what he gets into."

Williams' support is particularly deep among blacks but extends much further, said Farrell. Working with Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Farrell gathered signatures from more than 100 religious leaders, lawmakers and others of prominence for a clemency request that went to the governor Monday. Among those whose names are attached: NAACP Chairman Julian Bond; U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa; Harry Belafonte; Bonnie Raitt and Russell Crowe.

Is there reason to think that Schwarzenegger's Hollywood ties might make him more receptive to celebrity pleas?

"No," Farrell said flatly. "One would hope that because he comes out of an industry beyond the political world that he's less subject to the pressures of politics but, unfortunately, his career hasn't demonstrated that."

So far, Schwarzenegger hasn't said much about the execution, other than that he views it as a complex subject.

"It's never a fun thing to do. You're dealing with someone's life," he told reporters.

Williams' lawyers have requested a meeting with Schwarzenegger but haven't gotten a commitment.

The famous have long rallied to high-profile prisoners, including American Indian activist Leonard Peltier, convicted of killing two FBI agents, and Jack Henry Abbott, whose jailhouse letters to novelist Norman Mailer were published as "In the Belly of the Beast." Abbott's release, which Mailer supported largely because of the convict's writing talent, ended tragically when he fatally stabbed a young man six weeks after being released. Back in prison, Abbott committed suicide.

Such celebrity campaigns rankle victim advocates. Nancy Ruhe, executive director of the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children, argues that they glamorize a man like Williams and confer unwarranted role-model status.

"He becomes someone to look up to," Ruhe said. "There are so many people in our country you can look up to, but most certainly it should not be someone who has murdered several people."

If Schwarzenegger commutes Williams' sentence to life imprisonment, it would be the first time a California governor has done so since 1967. That's when Ronald Reagan _ the last actor-turned-politico to govern California _ spared the life of Calvin Thomas, a 27-year-old man convicted in a firebombing that killed his girlfriend's toddler son. His lawyers argued that Thomas was brain-damaged.

Comparing Schwarzenegger and Reagan, veteran political reporter and Reagan biographer Lou Cannon sees a key difference: The future U.S. president had quickly made the transition from actor to leader, while Schwarzenegger, as Cannon sees it, still is struggling with the metamorphosis.

"I don't think he's going to be dismissive of these (stars), because they're from his community, but ultimately that's not going to make his decision," said Cannon. "He'll decide it on the merits."

Whitfield, who came to know Williams while preparing to film "Redemption," said those merits are self-evident.

"I don't think of myself as speaking as a celebrity. I come with the advantage of having delved into his story," she said. "No one has said, 'Can you just open up the gates and let Stan be a free man in the world.' ... But he at least can continue to do the work he's doing."

___

On the Net:

http://www.savetookie.org

http://www.www.knowgangs.com


Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Posted by: BSRanch

I worked against the gangs that he stared the Crips. They would get paroled in Rialto from Los Angeles, with part of their parole is they could not contact any of their past gang members. What do they do? Start up their own Crip Gang in Rialto and call it some other kind of name that matched the old Gang name in L.A.. Then the Bloods were Paroled in our area and the wars started. The Mexican Mafia members were were also sent to our area. They would stay in the background and be the leader while they had their school age children do the dirty work of shootings, robbery, drive by shootings. Then the other gang would follow. There was killing on both sides. but the thing that was the sad part was they were not that good of a shot and they killed many, innocent people. Now this guy that Started this mess is on Death Row, for twenty years. TWENTY (20) YEARS, and in that time he has talked to his Higher Power, and all is good..oh, I am sorry he wrote children's books that says don't do what I have done. Great! Because of him, gaining the "blessing" of his higher power and the writing of children's books, the assistance in the movie industry, this makes all those dead body erased. gone? Well as far as I am concerned I don't think that he should get this pardon. If he was Injected back when they gave the sentence he would not have had the time to write books and befriended the Hollywood Left. Kill this man, for what he has done, and what he has taught. Not what he has done after he was caught and sentenced. Lets face the facts! If he was not caught sentenced and in Prison now. he would be running his Crips Gang to this day!! The Sentence needs to be carried out. I am sorry if I sound bitter. maybe I am, but this is what and how I feel. He didn't do anything to stop the people that he started into the gang life, only wrote books to make money while he was inside to poss. save his life.

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