Actor Sean Penn waits outside of San Quentin State prison in San Quentin, Calif., early Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2005.
Posted on 12/13/2005 9:21:23 AM PST by Goldwater-Reagan Republican
As the crowd outside San Quentin State Prison was told after midnight this morning that Tookie Williams was dead, a lone voice cried out, "Shame." Then the throng took up the chant, "Tookie, Tookie, Tookie, Tookie."
"Despite what happened tonight, people do not feel defeated, as you can hear," said Jeff Boyette of San Francisco, a Williams supporter in his 20s.
"I think people see tonight just how unjust the system is," added Sarah Poole, another young death penalty opponent from San Francisco.
Moments earlier, as the execution time neared, there were tears as people sang "We Shall Overcome."
With California Highway Patrol officers in riot gear standing by, the crowd of well over a thousand dispersed peacefully.
It brought to an end one of the most celebrated death penalty cases in memory.
All night, the scene outside San Quentin's East Gate had been a crush of Tookie Williams supporters, capital punishment opponents, journalists and a few demonstrators in favor of Williams' execution.
As midnight drew closer, people poured into little San Quentin Village, swelling the crowd and jamming the narrow street leading into the prison.
The CHP was very much in evidence throughout the night, tightening security on roads around San Quentin and circling overhead in a helicopter.
The large turnout was not entirely unexpected, even though people had to park far away and hike in. The Williams case, with its condemnation of gang violence and themes of peace and redemption, had become a cause celebre in California.
"Tookie Williams has a new celebrity based on his transformation," the Rev. Jesse Jackson said as he waited, comparing the founder of the Crips street gang to Malcolm X. "He likes that."
Jackson was among a contingent of Williams' supporters who walked to the prison from San Francisco, carrying signs calling for an end to "state-sponsored murder."
Standing on a makeshift stage under glaring lights before the execution, he told the crowd that he had visited Williams twice that day.
"I said, 'We'll see you in the morning,' and we laughed and embraced," he said. "Tookie's last words to me were, 'Those who care about my legacy, avoid violence.'"
Actor Mike Farrell, a longtime death penalty opponent, condemned Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for denying Williams' clemency, and taking so long to announce his decision.
"He didn't respond for 97 hours," he said. "He tortured him (Williams) for 97 hours."
Folksinger and peace activist Joan Baez took the stage, quoted Gandhi, saying, "An eye for an eye until the whole world is blind," then added, "We have to be blind in this country to do what we do."
After branding the execution "cold-blooded murder," she sang an a cappella rendition of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," and said she would "spend the night silently in prayer."
Angela Davis appeared, and Marin actor Sean Penn was on hand, but did not speak.
Marin author Anne Lamott was among those in the noisy, jostling crowd.
"I'm just bearing witness," she said. "As Woody Allen once said, '90 percent of life is showing up.'"
For Lamott, bearing witness at the prison gate has been a lifelong ritual. She said she used to come to San Quentin in the 1950s with her father, who taught English to prisoners.
"We came when they were going to gas someone and stood vigil," she said. "It's so horrible to me."
While the crowd was generally peaceful, there were some minor scuffles and conflicts.
A "shock jock" from a Los Angeles radio station had his microphone broken when he harassed Jesse Jackson, demanding that Jackson recite the names of Williams' victims. He was later surrounded by Williams' supporters, chanting "racist go home."
A capital punishment advocate with a bullhorn was surrounded and drowned out by a circle of drummers. And a man's crudely-lettered cardboard sign, which read: "Cook Kookie" was quickly obscured by death penalty opponents holding signs with slogans such as: "The California Department of Corrections is a serial killer. Stop it before it murders again."
Marin peace activists Alan and Ruth Barnett of Mill Valley came to the prison after Schwarzenegger surprised them by failing to grant clemency in the politically-charged case.
"One feels so helpless," he said. "These are cathartic experiences for people."
Actor Sean Penn waits outside of San Quentin State prison in San Quentin, Calif., early Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2005.
Watching the left lose it is going to be fun.
I take it this pos so-called actor is NOT crying over the lives of "Tookie's" victims.....
That picture is priceless!
Brings a smile to my face.
The magnet of evil!
That's how the Tookie crumbles.
Yesterday the local TV reporter discussed Arnold's decision as "He decided not to save Stanley Williams' life".
They could have said "He decided not to interfere with the outcome of the courts and the decision by a jury of Stanley William's peers" but the former sounded better to them.
Just another example of media bias trying to create a perspective that is not based in reality.
And yet, the sight of an infant being slaughtered because it is an inconvenience elicits nothing.
Its certainly fitting for Penn to sympathize with Tookie. Penn loves Saddam Hussein too. Penn loves murderous thugs, the more murders they commit, the more he loves them.
At least he is consistent.
I have $5 says none of these people have ever joined in a pro-life protest outside an abortion mill. They can't stand killing the guilty, but killing the innocent they celebrate as a "right".
"He didn't respond for 97 hours," he said. "He tortured him (Williams) for 97 hours."
These people are mentally retarded. No PC from me. They are sick, retarded people.
Not ONE of them showed pity or remorse for the murder victims. They do not mention anything about the thousands, THOUSANDS of people killed or wounded by the gangs that this piece of trash glorified.
Question for the libs: How many books do you need to write to balance out murdering one person? One book, two books? How many? DO YOU LIBS HAVE THE GUTS TO ANSWER?!!!
$ 50000 or more...
I don't believe this. These people need serious psychological help.
Isn't she supposed to be in jail?
Too bad CA doesn't use The Chair - Tookie Crisp!
(I saw the link that Mewzilla posted showing the crime scene victims that Tookie was proven to have killed. VERY GRAPHIC.)
http://www.homestead.com/prosites-prs/tookiewilliamsvictims.html
Translation: "I hate the Hebrew Scriptures, I hate Jews and I hate Americans who take the Hebrew Scriptures seriously."
as they said ,
FREE BARABBAS !
I won't hold my breath.
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