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Stanley Tookie Williams Executed at San Quentin
Angela Davis: "The State of California May Have Extinguished
the Life of Stanley Tookie Williams, But They Have Not Managed
to Extinguish the Hope for a Better World"
Stanley Tookie Williams: I Want the World to Remember Me
for My "Redemptive Transition"
Did Texas Execute an Innocent Man? Investigating the Details
of the Cantu Case
Stanley Tookie Williams Executed at San Quentin
Stanley Tookie Williams is dead. He was executed at 12:35
am PT by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison. He
was 51 years old. A co-founder of one of the country's most
notorious street gangs, the Crips, Williams spent 24 years
on death row after being convicted of four murders. During
this period he became a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, children's
author and a vocal advocate against gang violence. He maintained
his innocence up until his death. Williams' fate was sealed
Monday afternoon when California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
rejected a final appeal for clemency. We play excerpts of
a press conference where witnesses describe the execution
and we hear reactions from his attorney, the NAACP and the
Rev. Jesse Jackson. [includes rush
transcript]
Stanley Tookie Williams is dead. He was executed December
13th at 12:35 a.m. Pacific time by lethal injection at San
Quentin State Prison. He was 51 years old. A co-founder of
one of the country's most notorious street gangs, the Crips,
Williams spent 24 years on death row after being convicted
of four murders.
During this period he became a Nobel Peace Prize nominee,
children's author and a vocal advocate against gang violence.
He maintained his innocence up until his death.
The execution was attended both by the victims' families
and several of Williams' supporters. After he was pronounced
dead, several reporters who were witness to the execution
held a press conference and described what happened.
- Press conference, December 13th
A crowd over 2,000 people, most of them opposed to Williams'
execution, demonstrated outside the prison. Williams' fate
was sealed Monday afternoon when California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger rejected a final appeal for clemency. Another
plea to the Supreme Court was rejected later in the evening.
Schwarzenegger also turned down a last-minute request to grant
a stay of execution despite the emergence of four new witnesses
Williams' lawyers argued could help exonerate him.
Williams' defense team immediately denounced the judgment,
and vowed to press their clients" case until the final
moment. Williams" attorney Jonathan Harris held a press
conference by phone after the clemency appeal was denied.
- Jonathan Harris, December 12th, telephone press conference.
Williams became one of the most celebrated death row cases
the country has seen in years, championed by prominent political
and community figures like the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Professor
and Activist Angela Davis, and Sister Helen Prejean, and entertainers
such as the rap artist Snoop Dogg and the actor Jamie Foxx.
This is Alice Huffman of the NAACP.
- Alice Huffman, California NAACP President.
The Reverend Jesse Jackson was one of the last people to
meet with Stanley Tookie Williams. He also denounced the decision
by Governor Schwarzenegger to deny Williams clemency.
- The Rev. Jesse Jackson, December 12th, outside San Quentin
prison, California.
Angela Davis: "The State of California May Have
Extinguished the Life of Stanley Tookie Williams, But They
Have Not Managed to Extinguish the Hope for a Better World"
We speak with longtime prison activist and professor Angela
Davis about the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams. She
was outside San Quentin prison when he died. In the written
response to Williams' clemency appeal, California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger said "The dedication of Williams'
book 'Life in Prison' casts significant doubt on his personal
redemption." - the dedication includes Angela Davis.
In California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's written
response to Stanley Tookie Williams" clemency appeal.
Schwarzenegger writes: "The dedication of Williams' book
"Life in Prison" casts significant doubt on his
personal redemption. This book was published in 1998, several
years after Williams' claimed redemptive experience. Specifically,
the book is dedicated to 'Nelson Mandela, Angela Davis, Malcolm
X, Assata Shakur, Geronimo Ji Jaga Pratt, Ramona Africa, John
Africa, Leonard Peltier, Dhoruba Al-Mujahid, George Jackson,
Mumia Abu-Jamal, and the countless other men, women, and youths
who have to endure the hellish oppression of living behind
bars.' The mix of individuals on this list is curious. Most
have violent pasts and some have been convicted of committing
heinous murders, including the killing of law enforcement."
Schwarzenegger goes on to particularly single out the inclusion
of George Jackson on this list. George Jackson, the jailed
Black Panther member gunned down by prison guards at San Quentin
in 1971. Angela Davis stood trial and was acquitted for taking
part in a courtroom raid that sought Jackson's release.
- Angela Davis, a longtime prison activist and professor
at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the
author of several books including "Are Prisons Obsolete?"
and "Women, Race and Class". Her latest book is
titled "Abolition Democracy: Prisons, Democracy, and
Empire." She was at San Quentin State Prison last night.
Stanley Tookie Williams: I Want the World to Remember
Me for My "Redemptive Transition"
We hear Stanley Tookie Williams in his own words, speaking
in one his last interviews, recorded just hours before his
death. He appeared on Pacifica Radio station WBAI's Wake Up
Call. In the interview, Williams says he would like to be
remembered for his redemptive transition: "Redemption.
I can say it no better than that. That's how I would like
the world to remember me. That's what I would like my legacy
to be remembered as."
- Stanley Tookie Williams, interviewed on Pacifica Radio
station WBAI on Monday by Wake-Up
Call producer Kat Aaron.
Wakeup Call's full
interview with Stanely Tookie Williams
Did Texas Execute an Innocent Man? Investigating
the Details of the Cantu Case
Ruben Cantu was the fifth teenager convicted and executed
by the state of Texas. Now more than a dozen years after his
death, a further investigation into his case has provided
new information supporting his unwavering claim to innocence.
We speak with Lise Olsen, the reporter from the Houston Chronicle
who has written a series of articles on the case.
We turn now to another state execution. In 1993, the state
of Texas executed Ruben Cantu. He was convicted at the age
of 18 and only 26 years old when killed by lethal injection.
Canto was charged with committing murder and robbery. During
his eight years on death row Cantu maintained his innocence.
Just four days after his sentencing, Cantu wrote in a letter
addressed to the citizens of San Antonio: "I have been
framed in a capital murder case." In 1987, he wrote to
the Board of Pardons and Paroles, saying, "I was tried
and convicted on bogus evidence."
Now more than a dozen years after his execution it appears
he was telling the truth. The single eyewitness has recanted
his testimony against Cantu. And Cantu's alleged co-defendent
has signed an affidavit saying he allowed his friend to be
falsely accused.
- Lise Olsen, Houston Chronicle reporter who has been investigating
this case.
Read the Houston
Chronicle's investigative series
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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