Posted on 12/03/2005 7:01:37 PM PST by bloggodocio
LOS ANGELES — The fight to save death row inmate Stanley “Tookie” Smith turned confrontational last week after his supporters clashed with a right-wing shock-jock on the streets of Crenshaw.
Radio personality, John Ziegler, a talk radio host with KFI 640 AM, got into a shoving match with community leaders and activists who were protesting that station’s alleged “racism and bigotry” and had gathered outside the Lucy Florence Coffeehouse in Leimert Park to announce a formal complaint to the Federal Communication Commission.
Ziegler, actually comes on at 7 p.m. weekdays after infamous KFI 640 AM hosts John and Ken of the John and Ken Show. They have designated the hour of 5 p.m. as the “Tookie Must Die/Kill Tookie” hour Monday through Friday until and if Williams, a co-founder of the notorious Los Angeles Crips gang, is executed in San Quentin on Dec. 13.
The station has also listed the phone numbers and e-mail addresses of Williams’ supporters who have subsequently received hate messages and violent threats.
To jeers and shouts of “racist,” Ziegler, who had ridiculed the death of attorney Johnny Cochrane by claiming he was going straight to hell for defending O.J. Simpson, tried to ask a question after the press conference had formally ended and was surrounded by angry Williams’ supporters.
“I didn’t come down here to provoke anyone,” he claimed when asked point blank.
“I came down here to find out why they were calling me a racist. What I’m doing on the show is not racist. In the Tookie Williams case, we’re informing the public as to the facts.
“Even his supporters have acknowledged that he wasn’t tried by an all-white jury, as has been claimed. And even if it was, that does not inherently mean that he didn’t get a fair trial.”
He added: “The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the most liberal court in the land, a court that despises the death penalty, a court that sees racism everywhere, has upheld his conviction and said it is only clemency from the governor that can save this man. That tells you that he got a fair trial.”
Earlier, Jasmyne Cannick of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, had lambasted the station, which is owned by Texas-based Clear Channel Communications.
“It is clear that John and Ken and host John Ziegler are trying to play on the emotions of blacks in Los Angeles as it relates to the Williams execution,” she said.
“The core and manner of the on-air remarks, which were extremely distasteful towards Williams and his plight, were extraordinarily disturbing and offensive. I urge the FCC to examine these incidents and take any and all actions consistent with their rules and regulations.”
Her comments were echoed by Lita Herron, a spokeswoman for a Victim Mothers Support group.
“This smacks of the party mentality that went on when American whites were lynching blacks,” she fumed.
“We feel that Stanley Williams has a right as any other citizen to a fair trial, a fair sentence and a fair justice. Not indecency or salaciousness so a radio personality can achieve ratings. We’re outraged at KFI and we want the community and world to know that we object to this kind of behavior.”
At press time, neither KFI nor Clear Channel had returned calls for comment.
Williams, who was found guilty of murdering four people in two separate robberies in 1979, has become a cause celebré after renouncing his violent past and penning a series of books aimed at dissuading youths from gangs and the drug culture. His work and message of redemption have led to multiple nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has scheduled a private hearing on Dec. 8 with Williams’ lawyers, Los Angeles County prosecutors and other interested parties. The governor has the authority to commute a death sentence to life in prison without the possibilty of parole, but is not obligated to hold a hearing.
Schwarzenegger has denied his first two clemency appeals, stating that an inmate’s model behavior was not enough to sway him to grant mercy.
These knee-jerk racism accusations are getting really old.
He does and he will regret it, and take that mistake to his political grave.
"right-wing shock-jock"
There is your justification for mass murder and a commutation of his death sentence. Quickly, who remembers which side of his victims Tookie blew away? Was it right or left? The pictures are posted on FR today.
"“This smacks of the party mentality that went on when American whites were lynching blacks,” she fumed."
These people are so predictable............
Anyone that kills people over and over with a shotgun at close range isn't human. They are devoid of humanity and no amount of time or anything else changes that. So what if this thing that only looks human has found a way to act human in prison. They might compare this thing to OJ but they should also compare him to John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, etc. This is not about color except that morons are using the things skin color to push their own political agendas. Or, they just think it's OK to kill white people and/or Oriental folks in this case maybe.
Only one that I know of.
And that was a nomination by some wacked out pinko Philosphy prof at Berkley that writes articles for various commie papers.
Ka-PING!
I should add that that nomination was laughed out of the Nobel meeting.
California has long been a lost cause for Repubs. Give it up, Ahnold is never going to look "conservative". You are right he will continue to show us his left turns.
why is it that if one is for law and order then that person is a "right winger"? to be honest I have no problem with being known as a right winger.
thus since the left isn't for following the law and order, should the left be known as the unlawful and chaos......?
excuse me but...
I think I answered my own question.....
never mind.
He will not grant clemency. If he did, we would total recall him. It would be a very easy vote because he will have lost what remains of his base.
I'm not taking that bet!
"My bet is that Arnold wusses out and continues his sprint to the left, gets killed in his re-election bid, and goes down in history as a bad joke."
I hope you are wrong...but my gut tells me you are right.
Polls have it at 2 to 1 in favor of "Tookie" taking the pipe.
If Arnold commutes his sentance, hes done.
I just read the DA's response to Tookies bid for clemency. Tookies is a bad man, he is evil absolute.
LOL - that's great! - did you do that?
Ahhhh. It's based in Texas. There's the proof of racism. The station is owned by a Corp. in Texas.
TEXASSSSSSSSS
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