Posted on 12/20/2005 11:27:20 AM PST by LouAvul
LOS ANGELES (AP) - In the kind of funeral normally reserved for a dignitary, religious leaders and celebrities traveled to violence-wracked South Los Angeles to pay respects to the man who helped found a deadly street gang, then spent the years before his execution denouncing the gangster life.
Stanley Tookie Williams' funeral was scheduled for noon Tuesday, almost exactly a week after he was put to death for murdering four people during a pair of 1979 robberies. Williams, who in the 1970s co-founded the Crips gang not far from the church hosting his funeral, wrote from Death Row children's books warning against the gang life.
Those efforts attracted numerous supporters who lobbied frantically for clemency, arguing Williams had redeemed himself. Among those expected to attend his funeral were the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who visited Williams shortly before his death, Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan and hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg.
The service was to include a five-minute video tribute by documentary filmmaker Jonathan Stack and speeches by motivational guru Tony Robbins and actor Jamie Foxx, who portrayed Williams in the TV movie "Redemption: The Stanley Tookie Williams Story."
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Crowd Gathers in L.A. for Williams Funeral
"Keelonnie Roberts, 23, of Torrance, said her father was a Crip who used to tell her tales of gang life. Although Roberts never met Williams, she said, 'He seemed like a sweet man to me.'"
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WILLIAMS_FUNERAL?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
"I'm here to pay my respects to humanity, and that goes to Tookie and everyone else they do in. ... What if it was your son?" Birdsong said. "He's no different from any other human being. We all made mistakes."
Shotgunning four innocent people in cold blood is a "MISTAKE"?
Looks like you've been disappointed.
You may want to Google Australia. I hear they have some riots.
There are probably more posts on this thread than people that showed up for his memorial.
They had about 20 gang members show up and they could barely fill the church.
This in a region that has 15 million people.
Was anyone wearing red or was blue the color of preference?
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