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Hundreds of people converged Monday on the South Los Angeles neighborhood where Stanley Tookie Williams co-founded the Crips to say goodbye to a "homeboy" executed last week over the objections of supporters who said he had turned his life around. Williams, clad in a gray suit, lay in an open coffin at the House of Winston Mortuary as people quietly filed by with their heads bowed. "Mostly everyone is out here because of his reputation," said Robert Collins, 27, who said he was a former Crips gang member. "Everyone knew Tookie was no angel. Everyone's just paying their respects to...

The execution of Crips Gang founder and convicted murderer Stanley “Tookie” Williams on December 12th generated an inordinate amount of hysteria from anti-death penalty forces, not to mention the mainstream media coverage, which, as always, skewed leftward. The vigil that took place outside San Quentin on the night of Williams’ execution was attended by such ubiquitous liberal celebrities as actor Mike Farrell, folksinger Joan Baez, and professional race-baiter Jesse Jackson. Brows were beaten, tears were shed, and Governor Schwarzenegger was lambasted for denying Williams clemency. Apparently, all it takes is writing (or more likely having ghost-written) several children’s books and...

The wretched excess of the "Save Tookie" campaign By John Leo AP Rapper Snoop Dogg during a rally for death-row inmate Stanley "Tookie" Williams last month. "Tookie" Williams, put to death by lethal injection last week in California, was a "legend" who underwent "a meaningful martyrdom that sent a lasting message to the world," according to old-time leftist Tom Hayden, formerly Mr. Jane Fonda. "Meaningful martyrdom"? What can Hayden be talking about? Martyrs die for a cause. Williams died for executing four unarmed people during two 1979 robberies, shooting a woman in the face, and laughing uncontrollably at the gurgling...

Martyrdom? By John Leo Dec 19, 2005 “Tookie” Williams, put to death by lethal injection last week in California, was a “legend” who underwent “a meaningful martyrdom that sent a lasting message to the world,” according to old-time leftist Tom Hayden, formerly Mr. Jane Fonda.” Meaningful martyrdom”? What can Hayden be talking about? Martyrs die for a cause. Williams died for executing four unarmed people during two 1979 robberies, shooting a woman in the face, and laughing uncontrollably at the gurgling sounds a male victim made as he died in agony. Opposing the death penalty, of course, means speaking out...

One of the most frightening places I've been in the middle of a power outage is a tiny room inside the walls of San Quentin State Prison. I was padlocked inside the small room with a man I had never met before, a man who was to be executed within days for the brutal murders of four people. I was there to interview Stanley Tookie Williams. He shook my hand, introduced himself and we began to talk. An hour later, a heavy storm felled a power line and the lights in the visiting area suddenly went off. My first reaction...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sunday, December 18, 2005 PRESS CONTACT: Jasmyne Cannick (Local Media) (323) 839-0216 jasmynecannick@hotmail.com LaNiece Jones (Int’l and Nat’l Media) (510) 568-5899 lajpr@aol.com Viewing to Take Place on Monday, Memorial Service Slated for Tuesday LOS ANGELES - There will be a public viewing of Stanley Tookie Williams on Monday, December 19, 2005 from 3 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the House of Winston Mortuary located at 9501 South Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles. The memorial service for peacemaker Stanley Tookie Williams will take place Tuesday, December 20, 2005 at 12 noon. The service will take place at Bethel...

Sacramento -- Amid the uproar over last week's execution of Stanley Tookie Williams, state lawmakers for the most part were notably silent. California politicians largely avoided the death penalty debate as advocates and opponents argued in newspapers and on television over whether the Crips co-founder and eventual anti-gang crusader deserved to live or die, and whether capital punishment was justice or barbarism. A petition asking Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to spare Williams by granting him clemency was circulated among legislative Democrats, but only nine -- out of 73 in the Assembly and Senate -- signed it. As five Democrats prepare to...

In what would turn out to be a horrible blow to the children’s book industry, a murdering gang-founder exhausted all options and was put to death early this week. Judging by the accounts of this murderer’s supporters, you might have been led to believe that Jesus had been accidentally given thelethal injection instead of Stanley “Tookie” Williams. Not even the murders of four innocent people, which he later laughed about, and a co-founding of the most deadly gang in US history would decelerate glowing testimonials from celebrities, a glorifying documentary about his life, and a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Despite...

Stanley Tookie Williams did take responsibility for his actions and showed remorse for the harm he had caused, contrary to what Syl Jones (Opinion Exchange, Dec. 13) and a recent letter writer say. I see remorse and the taking of responsibility for his actions in the tremendous work he did reaching out to bring peace to the gangs, writing children's books, and his mentoring of his former neighborhood's youth who were heading down the path he had gone.

Williams Memorial Service Scheduled For Tuesday In Los Angeles POSTED: 4:02 pm PST December 14, 2005 UPDATED: 5:25 pm PST December 16, 2005 LOS ANGELES -- A memorial service for Stanley Tookie Williams, the convicted killer who was executed on Dec. 13 at San Quentin Prison, has been scheduled for Tuesday in Los Angeles. The noon service will be held at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and will include large TV screens outside. A statement by Williams' supporters says the guests invited to attend the public service include the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and rapper...

Think the debate over Tookie Williams ended with his execution? Guess again. Issuing a public challenge, The Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable’s Earl Ofari Hutchinson and Jasmyne Cannick have accused KFI's John and Ken of racism. They insist proof is found in the pair's supposed reluctance to insist a white man on death row be quickly put to death: The Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable’s Earl Ofari Hutchinson and Jasmyne Cannick have issued a public challenge to controversial radio hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou of the John and Ken Show of AM 640 KFI (Los Angeles) to prove that...

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Political parties in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown have started a petition drive to remove his name from a sports stadium. The dispute stems from the governor's decision this week to deny clemency to Stanley Tookie Williams. The co-founder of the Crips gang was executed early Tuesday in San Quentin State Prison for four 1979 murders. Opposition to the death penalty is strong in Austria, and the once-popular Schwarzenegger has lost much of his shine since becoming California governor for refusing to spare convicted murderers on death row. The outcry was especially sharp this week after the...

I know this is a dead issue and I don't want to flog a dead horse, but I was wondering how many of the children's books that Tookie wrote were actually sold? I know there were 9 of them but not one media source ever said how many of them were sold.

The Arnold Schwarzenegger Football Stadium in Austria's second-largest city Graz is to be renamed as a sign of displeasure with the city's most famous son,. A majority of members on Graz City Council voted to rename the stadium after the Austrian-born governor of California approved the execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, according to newspaper Kleine Zeitung. The Terminator-turned-governor was born six kilometres outside Graz in the community of Thal. http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/arnies-terminated/2005/12/16/1134676432847.html

THE GOVERNOR of Maureen Faulkner's home state has just shown appropriate support for the memory of her deceased Philadelphia police officer husband, murdered 24 years ago last Friday by Mumia Abu-Jamal.I refer not to Pennsylvania Gov. Rendell, but to California's Arnold Schwarzenegger.In denying clemency to Stanley Tookie Williams, Schwarzenegger cited Williams' support of convicted cop-killer Mumia (among others), as an indication of his lack of repentance.Three hours after Williams' death by lethal injection, I broke that news to Maureen Faulkner, who was grateful that Schwarzenegger had acknowledged Williams' support for the man who killed her husband on a cold...

Furious politicians from Arnold Schwarzenegger's home city have turned on him over his refusal to stop the execution of a reformed gangster. Councillors in the Austrian city of Graz yesterday voted to remove the California governor's name from the local football stadium. The move comes after the Terminator star denied clemency to convicted murderer Stanley 'Tookie'Williams, 51, the co-founder of Los Angeles' notorious Crips gang. Graz deputy mayor Walter Ferk said: said: 'It is annoying that we are being criticised because of Schwarzenegger's actions in California. 'It is not exactly admirable for us to be connected with the death penalty....

How a lesbian, liberal Democrat turned Tookie's lights out Posted: December 16, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com It was a little after midnight as scores of pro-gang activists gathered in a vigil to honor their hero "Tookie" Williams. I was at this media group-grope at San Quentin prison. As reporters interviewed reporters, I stood watching and waiting for the inevitable nuttiness I knew was going to follow. Aware of the growing passion amongst those in the pro-Crips contingent, I decided to leave before any unruly mobs could materialize with their threats to run down anyone who didn't...

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable’s Earl Ofari Hutchinson and Jasmyne Cannick have issued a public challenge to controversial radio hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou of the John and Ken Show of AM 640 KFI (Los Angeles) to prove that they are not promoting racial double standards when it comes to the death penalty. The John and Ken Show dedicated the hour of 5 p.m. as “Kill Tookie/Tookie Must Die Hour” for over a month. During this time, KFI purposely followed around Black community activists, religious and civil rights leaders who were in support of clemency...

Stanley "Tookie" Williams, convicted multiple murderer and co-founder of the notorious street gang the "Crips," died via lethal injection at 12:35 a.m. on Dec. 13, 2005, in San Quentin State Prison. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, only hours before Williams' scheduled execution, refused to grant clemency. Who was Stanley "Tookie" Williams, and why did so many people want his life spared? The Crips, co-founded by Williams in 1971, became a national -- indeed, international -- gang responsible for thousands of deaths. In 1981, a jury convicted Williams of murdering four people, and he was sentenced to death. Williams claimed he was...

Sean Penn, Snoop Dogg, Jamie Foxx and Danny Glover are among the thousands of mourners expected to turn out for the funeral of executed former gang leader Stanley 'Tookie' Williams early next week.