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Straight Talk: Stanley “Tookie” Williams Is Dead

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Straight Talk: Stanley “Tookie” Williams Is Dead CALIFORNIA GANG INVESTIGATOR’S ASSOCIATION P.O. Box 861143 Los Angeles, CA 90086 (888) 229-CGIA (2442) December 23rd ., 2005 Straight Talk: Stanley “Tookie” Williams is Dead Stanley “Tookie” Williams was administered a lethal cocktail by the State of California on Tuesday morning December 13, 2005 at 12:35 A.M. His execution was just punishment for committing the horrendous murders of four innocent people. It was a more merciful death than he granted his four victims. Based on Governor Schwarzenegger’s statements and the hearing he granted, it was quite obvious he gave the case very serious and genuine consideration before denying clemency. When the facts of the case were examined without the emotional baggage, it was clear that Tookie had committed the crimes. Governor Schwarzenegger also pointed out Williams’ so called redemption rang hollow when one considers that many of the dedications in his books were “in your face” inscriptions to other murderers, some of whom had committed extremely vicious murders of innocent citizens and law enforcement officers doing their duty. One of the saddest parts of this whole affair, particularly as it neared the end, was the army of Tookie supporters who took to the airways and streets in an attempt to sway public opinion. Their disingenuous statements regarding Tookie’s innocence and his importance to bringing peace to the gangs lacked credibility. Despite the futile and orchestrated grandstanding for the media of Barbara Becnel, his trusted confidant and co-author of his books, who along with her cohorts screamed out that California had executed an innocent man as they exited the Death Chamber, the evidence at the end remained strong and factual. This evidence, summarized in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Response to Stanley Williams’ Petition for Executive Clemency, was based on solid impeccable facts, while the defense team and supporters used arguments that relied on fabricated scenarios and innuendo, rather than logical reasoning based on the actual facts of the case. Williams’ supporters included the ever present fading actors Mike Farrell and Ed Asner. Many members of Hollywood’s elite turned out to protest, most of whom had no idea of who Tookie Williams was or what he stood for. They were there as an act of protest against capital punishment, disrespecting the victims of Tookie’s murderous rage, but even this gross injustice did not slow their protest or even give them pause. None of these Tookie stalwarts demonstrated one whit of concern or pity for the victims. Of course Jessie Jackson was there, spouting his usual misinformed rhetoric which seemed designed to exhort the mob rather than convey a message of peace and respect for the laws of the land. Jessie Jackson could not even name one of the victims when pressed. Instead, he replied, “We are not here about that.” In fact, Rev. Jackson, that is exactly why you were there. You and all the others were gathered because Tookie killed those innocents that you so easily dismiss. During interviews since the execution, Barbara Becnel continues to insist that Tookie was innocent of his charges and now the work begins to find the real killers, 25 years after the murders. Why did they wait until every appeal was exhausted? It strains one’s imagination to suppose that Stanley Williams would die instead of naming someone, or even confiding to a trusted friend, that there was someone else there on the nights of the murders who used his shotgun to kill those people at point blank range. Apparently, however, Ms. Becnel will now join O.J. Simpson and Robert Blake in the ever growing posse searching for the real killers in their celebrated cases. Celebrities and members of the media also made much ado over Tookie’s nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature. These nominations were orchestrated by an anti- capital punishment constituency who knew California would never put to death a Nobel Prize winner. It was, in fact, a brilliant idea, except that the Nobel committee could plainly see they were being used for political gain. The nomination of a common thug over international statesmen was absolutely ludicrous. While the books are worthy of reading as part of a comprehensive anti-gang programming, they are simple, expensive, little books designed for elementary school programs. They are not great works of art, or memorable for their literary value. The fact that they were written by a condemned murderer gives them little meaning or importance to the elementary school child. Anyone with a sense of gang life and some writing skills, or access to educated co-authors could write similar books. It does not take a convict to write them and they do not stand as proof of his redemption. The claim that Tookie saved children from a life of crime due to his books and anti-gang speeches was a central part of his appeal for clemency, but there is no real evidence that his efforts ever stopped anyone from becoming a gang member. Both of his sons are criminals, and incarcerated for their crimes. The small children that were depicted in the “Save Tookie” testimonials were obviously staged and done to pull at the heart strings of people who have little concept of the causative factors which breed gangs and gang violence. There have even been claims that Tookie’s efforts saved over a 150,000 children from becoming gang members. This assertion is also ludicrous. How does one come up with such wild numbers? There is no research to back the claim. In fact his involvement with recruiting and aiding in building the Crip gangs introduced more young Americans into the criminal lifestyle of the gangs, dooming thousands of them to a wasted life of incarceration and violent death. The N.A.A.C.P. weighed in during the final days of the spectacle by demanding that clemency be granted so that Tookie could direct their new anti-gang violence program. Where has the N.A.A.C.P. been over the last three decades when young African-American men have been killing each other at record rates, during a period of time that Tookie, theoretically, was spreading his message of peace among the gangs? Are there not others who have been working quietly in prevention programs who might be tapped to lead their national effort? Might they not want someone who has actually demonstrated through a positive example that there is another way? There are programs out there which deserve support and through which organizations like the N.A.A.C.P. can join in partnerships with people who have experience working with gang-involved youth. One thing that can be demonstrated is that the number of gangs and gang members have nearly tripled since Tookie went to prison and found his so called redemption. Gang crimes, and in particular gang related murders, have increased triple fold during that time frame. Black on Black gang crime remains at epidemic levels in South Los Angeles. Where is there any evidence of Tookie’s great work at preventing youth from joining gangs? His supporters point to “a fragile but very real gang truce” and Tookie subsequently videotaped a speech renouncing gang violence, but the short-lived truce was already in effect and did not happen because of Tookie’s efforts. His appeal to end gang violence certainly did not have a lasting effect. Prior to his execution, children were paraded in front of cameras saying they were saved from gangs by reading Tookie’s books. We know nothing of these children except that most were too young to be in a gang in the first place. There is a much better chance that if in fact they were saved from the gangs they were saved by concerned parents and teachers who taught them a different life path, not from reading a simplistic book. These young people deserve support, Tookie did not. A true demonstration of Tookie’s powerful influence in the gangs and his message of peace was on display to the world at his funeral services in South Los Angeles. The Bethel AME Church is located in one of the many Crip gangs’ neighborhoods that are rivals of Tookie’s original Crip gang. The delicate and temporary peace between the gangs was barely maintained as the two gangs exchanged insults and threats. The gangsters gathering outside the church were decked out in the traditional Crip garb, the blue colored gang attire of the Crip gangs, they readily flashed gang hand signs in an attempt to intimidate rivals and the public at large. Many of the non-gang members in attendance were purchasing and wearing shirts honoring not only Tookie but the Crip gangs in general. A powerful reminder of Tookie’s legacy is that of a gangster who brought death and disillusionment to far too many of the youth of America, a legacy that helped lay waste to many neighborhoods across the land, as gangs kill communities just a surely as their bullets kill people. His impact in death as in life is neither that of a redeemed gangster reborn as a peacemaker, nor is it one of statesmanship because no matter his best efforts peace does not exist within the gang world, violent death and injury still reigns supreme there. Wesley D. McBride President California Gang Investigators Association .
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