Not really knowing anything about this case, I don't have any opinion on the clemency petition, but that so many FReepers anxiously anticipate dancing on a grave sickens me. The execution of a criminal is not a cause for celebration; it is an occasion for sadness that it ever had to come to that.
"it is an occasion for sadness that it ever had to come to that"
I agree dancing on his grave may be a tad morbid. OTOH, in some ways I can legitibately see the cause for celebration in the sense that at long last we may witness justice being done.
I'm not sad when our system works (albeit belatedly).
Here read this.
It is time to recall exactly what Tookie did to get sentenced to death.
In 1979 "Tookie" murdered four innocent, defenseless people with a sawed-off shotgun at point blank range. During his first murder he ordered a 7-eleven store clerk into the back room and told him to "lie face down on the floor you mother----er." He then walked over to this young man and shot him in the back at contact range with the shotgun. The rush of blood into the victims lungs and throat made a horrible gurgling sound and the man struggled to breathe. "Tookie" then fired another killing round into the man's back -- again at contact range. Later that evening he bragged about the murder and laughed while recalling the agony, gurgling sounds and the desperate gasping of the victim.
Eleven days later "Tookie" broke into a small motel at 5:30 in the morning. When confronted by the owner he shot the man point blank in the face with the same shotgun. He broke into the owners' bedroom and shot and murdered his wife at point blank range with the shotgun. When their daughter came running to their rescue he shot and brutally killed their only daughter with the same powerful shotgun. Then he calmly raided the cash register and drove away with a hundred dollars -- the only receipts for the evening.
"Tookie" was convicted of murder and sentenced to death for these wanton, brutal acts of murder. During the sentencing phase of his trial he looked over to the jury and mouthed "I will get everyone of you mother----ers."
This heroic jury did not flinch. They at great personal risk to themselves and their families meted out a "guilty" verdict even though the leader of the most notorious gang in America with thousands of gang members to do his bidding threatened to ..."get everyone of you mother----ers."
Tookie Williams has never been remorseful, he has never apologized to the families of his victims, he refuses to accept responsibility for his actions. He still claims to be an innocent man, framed and convicted by an all white jury. This is a blatant lie that Tookie Williams repeated last week on the MSNBC Rita Crosby interview. (There was a black and a latino on the jury.) The jury members still live in fear of this wanton, unrepentant monster. It is time for this man to quit threatening society.
Tookie is not a victim. The real victims are like that freckled-face young man, with a ready smile for everyone, working at that 7-eleven store when Tookie Williams walked in 26 years ago. Tookie Williams smote the life out of that young man and his mother has been gasping for closure ever since. She has been horribly injured, her pain is too great to bear, the cuts to her heart are too deep, and her wounds will never heal.