Tookie Williams supporters vow to clear his name

Tookie Williams supporters vow to clear his name

-13/12/05

Friends and supporters of e

Tookie Williams supporters vow to clear his name

-13/12/05

Friends and supporters of ex-Los Angeles gangland leader Stanley ëTookieí Williams, who was executed by the US State of California this morning, have vowed that they will struggle on to have his name cleared of the four murders for which he was killed, and to continue his work against violence.

Williams, founder of the notorious Crips gang, always denied the four brutal slayings in 1979 which put him on death row. But he admitted openly to having led a criminal life and to his involvement in lethal gang culture.

Backed by a host of church, civic and national figures ñ including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Rev Jesse Jackson ñ Williamsí appeals to have the questionable evidence against him reconsidered, and latterly clemency, were all rejected.

The final decision rested with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who says he agonised over the decision. He was under huge political pressure in an election year to be seen to support the death penalty, which is losing support among many ordinary Americans.

Having recanted in 1993, ëTookieí Williams co-wrote ten books to try to wean young, urban, mainly black youngsters off the gang culture. He also recorded interviews and messages from prison, counselling individuals and communicating to rallies.

In their petition for mercy, his supporters wrote: ìThis is about redemption, rehabilitation and hope. It is about a single man, a prisoner for a quarter century, who found purpose while facing death by execution.î

In its ruling on 11 October 2005, the US Supreme Court disregarded nine Ninth Circuit Court judgesí assertion that the District Attorney at Williamsí original trial had employed ìreprehensible and unconstitutionalî racist tactics, using animal-in-a-jungle metaphors to refer to him and to the South Central environment in which he lived.

Questions were also raised about the confession which led to his circumstantial conviction, resulting in clemency for the accuser, and forensics linking him to a murder weapon in the 1979 case.

But Mr Schwarzenegger, star of the ëTerminatorí movies, said he had looked at the evidence admissible and could find no grounds for clemency.

The Crips were created by Williams and his friend Raymond Washington in Los Angeles in 1971. There are now 12,000 Crips, 5,000 Bloods and 30,000 Latino gangsters in LA alone, reports the BBC. About 250 gang-related murders take place in Los Angeles every year.

The ëTookieí Williams case and execution is likely to prove to be a defining moment in the struggle against the death penalty, which its detractors ñ including the Catholic Church ñ say is morally wrong and unjust.

There are also long-standing allegations that it is used disproportionately against poor, black people. One slogan deployed outside the governorís mansion in California was ìthose without the capital get the punishment.î

Although the death penalty is backed by the religious write, a huge number of Christians have vigorously opposed it ñ claiming that a misreading of biblical texts and the importation of revenge and hatred into doctrinal assertions have been used to justify something contrary to the teachings of Jesus, who himself was executed by the then Roman state for subversion.

Biblical theologian Walter Wink has spent a lifetime examining ìthe myth of redemptive violenceî, the idea that justified killing makes society secure. He argues that the Gospel message stands in complete contradiction to this ideology, perpetuated by popular culture and mainstream politics.

In his final apology for the life he led before what he described as his redemption, Stanley ëTookieí Williams wrote: ìI pray that one day my apology will be accepted. I also pray that your suffering, caused by gang violence, will soon come to an end …..î

Those who backed him, and who are mourning today, say that they will work on to ensure that this dream comes closer to reality.

[Books by Walter Wink available in association with Ekklesia: Jesus and Non-violence: A Third Way; When the Powers Fall: Reconciliation in the Healing of Nations. News stories on Ekklesia: Schwarzenegger allows termination of reformed gang leader 12/12/05; World cities to declare against death penalty; Christians heartened by US decline in death sentences; A Call for Reckoning: Religion and the Death Penalty; Churches plead with Gaddafi for clemency over death sentences; Campaigning nun to speak in London against death penalty]

Tookie Williams supporters vow to clear his name

-13/12/05

Friends and supporters of ex-Los Angeles gangland leader Stanley ëTookie’ Williams, who was executed by the US State of California this morning, have vowed that they will struggle on to have his name cleared of the four murders for which he was killed, and to continue his work against violence.

Backed by a host of church, civic and national figures – including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Rev Jesse Jackson – Williams’ appeals to have the questionable evidence against him reconsidered, and latterly clemency, were all rejected.

Having recanted in 1993, ëTookie’ Williams co-wrote ten books to try to wean young, urban, mainly black youngsters off the gang culture. He also recorded interviews and messages from prison, counselling individuals and communicating to rallies.

In their petition for mercy, his supporters wrote: ‘This is about redemption, rehabilitation and hope. It is about a single man, a prisoner for a quarter century, who found purpose while facing death by execution.’

In its ruling on 11 October 2005, the US Supreme Court disregarded nine Ninth Circuit Court judges’ assertion that the District Attorney at Williams’ original trial had employed ‘reprehensible and unconstitutional’ racist tactics, using animal-in-a-jungle metaphors to refer to him and to the South Central environment in which he lived.

Questions were also raised about the confession which led to his circumstantial conviction, resulting in clemency for the accuser, and forensics linking him to a murder weapon in the 1979 case.

But Mr Schwarzenegger, star of the ëTerminator’ movies, said he had looked at the evidence admissible and could find no grounds for clemency.

The ëTookie’ Williams case and execution is likely to prove to be a defining moment in the struggle against the death penalty, which its detractors – including the Catholic Church – say is morally wrong and unjust.

There are also long-standing allegations that it is used disproportionately against poor, black people. One slogan deployed outside the governor’s mansion in California was ‘those without the capital get the punishment.’

Although the death penalty is backed by the religious write, a huge number of Christians have vigorously opposed it – claiming that a misreading of biblical texts and the importation of revenge and hatred into doctrinal assertions have been used to justify something contrary to the teachings of Jesus, who himself was executed by the then Roman state for subversion.

Biblical theologian Walter Wink has spent a lifetime examining ‘the myth of redemptive violence’, the idea that justified killing makes society secure. He argues that the Gospel message stands in complete contradiction to this ideology, perpetuated by popular culture and mainstream politics.

In his final apology for the life he led before what he described as his redemption, Stanley ëTookie’ Williams wrote: ‘I pray that one day my apology will be accepted. I also pray that your suffering, caused by gang violence, will soon come to an end …..’

Those who backed him, and who are mourning today, say that they will work on to ensure that this dream comes closer to reality.