Free Republic

Gang Founder Claimed Innocence Until the End By KIM CURTIS, Associated Press Writer Tue Dec 13,11:26 AM ET SAN QUENTIN, Calif. - Stanley Tookie Williams maintained his innocence right up until his death, even when an admission of guilt may have spared him execution. ADVERTISEMENT Even after the courts and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected a flurry of Williams' last-ditch appeals before his execution early Tuesday, his supporters vowed to prove his innocence. Williams, the Crips gang co-founder whose case stirred a national debate about capital punishment versus the possibility of redemption, was executed Tuesday morning for killing four people in...

SAN QUENTIN, United States (AFP) - US authorities have executed convicted killer Stanley "Tookie" Williams after one of the biggest anti-death penalty campaigns in the country for decades. Williams, executed by lethal injection at San Quentin prison, was declared dead at 12:35 am (0335 GMT) on Tuesday, a prison spokeswoman said. Several thousand people gathered outside the prison south of San Francisco raised their voices in anger when the news was announced. "It's over, but it's not," said civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, one of several high-profile figures to have supported Williams in his quest to avoid execution. "He came...