'This was not a man who went meekly': An eyewitness account of Stanley Tookie Williams' execution

SF Chronicle ^ | Dec. 13, 2005 | Kevin Fagan

[indcons]

The execution of convicted murderer Stanley Tookie Williams was a defiant, determined and messy affair -- surprising right up to the bitter end, just like his unfortunate life.

From the moment five guards walked him into the death chamber at 11:59 p.m. until 36 minutes later when Williams' heart stopped beating, the 51-year-old former gangster and his supporters tried their hardest to get through his final minutes on earth on their own terms. And they succeeded, as well as could be done under the circumstances -- and certainly more than in any of the 11 other executions since 1992, when San Quentin Prison's lime-green death chamber was put back into action after a 25-year hiatus.

All of the other men killed by lethal injection lay so quietly on the gurney as they were strapped down and poisoned that, except for a few small movements, it was hard to tell if they were even awake. Even in the two gassings at San Quentin that preceded the injections, Robert Alton Harris and David Mason faced their ends stoically.

Williams was different.

[indcons]

Don't forget Tookie's victims!! Nobody writes articles on them. They have been forgotten for all practical purposes by the leftist/anti-justice media.

[inquest]

This article is so nauseatingly gushing with sympathy for the murderer that I can't even get through it.

[Blood of Tyrants]

"At one point, a tear rolled down his cheek. "

Crying for himself, no doubt.

[kstewskis]

I found that in the way Tookie exited this world (in defiance), and the actions of his fellow "minions" at his side, disturbing.

[Eagles Talon IV]

Leave it to this rag to make a lame attempt to make a hero out of this animal. can't tell you how much I would love to see this man face his maker for the final judgment.

[CygnusXI]

Who cares how he went... he went.

[Eagles Talon IV]

Disturbing? In what way? Don't make this creep out to be anything more then a murdering sociopath.

[frogjerk]

Then, in the most radical departure of decorum for this modern era of executions, the trio shouted as they left the death chamber: "The state of California just killed an innocent man!" The sound crackled like lightning through the thick silence of the room, and Lora Owens gasped as if she'd been slapped. She burst into tears, pressing a Kleenex to her face.

Tookie supporters are absolute Jackasses!

[PeteB570]

I think Kevin had a thing for Tookie.

[indcons]

"Crying for himself, no doubt."

Tookie forgot that if you man enough to kill, you should be man enough to die as well.

[Bogey78O]

The left defends Castro, lionizes Tookie, and defends Saddam. They then sit vitrol upon Reagan, damn Bush (both), and attack the Pope.

It's almost unbelievable.

[Michael.SF.]

He prayed as he was being lashed to the cross-shaped gurney,

Tookie the man of God...Tookie the man of Peace...Tookie the Innocent...Tookie the Brave...tookie the Martyr...Tookie the DEAD!!

What a load.

[frogjerk]

He prayed as he was being lashed to the cross-shaped gurney, lips moving rapidly several minutes at a time. At one point, a tear rolled down his cheek.

DON'T EVEN GO THERE!

[kinghorse]

Did a firefox search. Surprisingly the word "victims" came up. Once. Ah-nold intimates all he had to do was say he was sorry. to suggest a sorry would have gotten him off the hook in and of itself is pretty pathetic. The article writer probably never had a relative's face blown off by shotgun. that's my guess. Scum California dirt worshippers.

[JeeperFreeper]

Somehow a little truth leaks out in the article. One,there is a "co-author" of the famous children's books.( I'll bet dollars to donuts this was THE author) Two, the miserable sick twisted supporters of this hoodlum who were at the execution yelled that the state executed an "innocent" man causing one of the victims relatives to be startled and begin crying. If Tookie was an "innocent " man, I'm the Easter Bunny.

[Bogey78O]

45,000 murders a year and no one is guilty.

[Liberfighter]

If only they were that concerned about Terri S..

[Michael.SF.]

I found that in the way Tookie exited this world, disturbing.

Comfort yourself in this, had he actually been innocent, he would not have left it the way he did. He left the world the way he lived in the world, tough, defiant, caring not for others, but for himself. F'em.

[frogjerk]

If only they were that concerned about Terri S..

They do not care for the innocent because they are from the evil one.

[SW6906]

Since the time it took seems to be their concern, I have some suggestions: Shooting or hanging would have been faster. With his bulk, hanging might have resulted in decapitation.

I would have been willing to pull the handle for free.