Posted on 12/13/2005 7:23:46 AM PST by talkshowamerica
by JR
Tookie Williams, the co-founder of the violent Crips street gang, was executed by lethal injection at 12:01 AM for the 1979 robbery murders of four people in Los Angeles.
The execution went ahead as scheduled after the U.S. Supreme Court late Monday rejected a last-minute appeal.
The high court's ruling followed California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision to deny clemency for Williams.
"Based on the cumulative weight of the evidence, there is no reason to second-guess the jury's decision of guilt or raise significant doubts or serious reservations about Williams' convictions and death sentence," Schwarzenegger said in a five-page statement explaining his decision.
Williams has maintained his inocence in those slayings and had denounced gang violence and wrote anti-gang books while in prison.
Having been convicted of murder and sentenced to death, Tookie Williams was not always the model prisoner, he had been a member of a prison gang and had been in numerous incidents while in prison, including throwing chemicals into a Prison Guards face.
He never admitted that he committed these murders thereby showing no real remorse for his crimes.
Could Tookie Williams be innocent of the four murders? I suppose it's possible but highly improbable.
There is something else that must be considered, Tookie Williams was the co-founder of one of the most violent street gangs in history, The Crips. The Crips are responsible for many murders, robberies, and rapes. They have destroyed many young peoples lives in the process of their mayhem. As a co-founder of the Crips, shouldn't Tookie Willams share some of that responsibility ?
If Tookie Williams were a gun manufacturer the answer would be YES. We hold gun manufacturers responsible when someone kills or seriously injures someone with a firearm, yet we don't apply the same standard to someone who is truly reposnsible for not just four persons murders but probably thousands of violent crimes committed against innocent people daily, including murder.
Let's face it. Had it not been for Hollyweird, Jackson or Sharpton, not many would even know of Tookie Williams. My question is this, and I don't mean to offend anyone, if Tookie Williams wasn't black, would we have heard from any of them about this case.
Tookie's case was reviewed more than twenty times during his incarceration and not one judge found any reason for a new trial.
I take no solice or joy in the death of Tookie Williams. It is indeed sad whenever we have to take someone's life. But Tookie Williams himself was the instrument of his own demise.
A lot of us are thrilled silly that they finally killed this trash heap.
Makes one wonder how many murders he committed and was never linked to.
I had the same thought. How many people have the Crips murdered? Hundreds, I'd wager, the vast majority of whom were black. I guess that doesn't bother Jamie Foxx or Jesse Jackson.
Where's the RIOTING...LOL...no one really cares, not enough to riot over this killers death.
Michelle Malkin - The Tookie files
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/003984.htm
This is true, but remember that Williams was a prominent member of the Crips from 1971 to 1979.
Only a fool could think that Williams was not involved in any other murders before the 1979 killings of which he was convicted.
One cannot become a gangleader in a city like Los Angeles without committing or planning the murder of rivals.
Tookie never apologized or atoned for what he had done.
Instead he spent 20 plus years trying to game the system.
Here is the history of a mass murderer who actually repented of his crimes, and chose to atone for them.
His name was Steven Renfro.
Steven's parents separated shortly after he was born and his father lost touch with both the mother and son for about 35 years. Steven's grandmother located Steven and reconciled him with with his father.
Steven was raised by his aunt, Rose Rutledge, near Marshall, Texas. He went to high school with Rick Berry, a Harrison County district attorney who later prosecuted Steven.
On August 25, 1996, after taking what he later told authorities were 70 doses of the tranquilizer Valium along with liquor, Steven put on camouflage clothing, blackened his face and armed himself with four guns including a military assault rifle and some 500 rounds of ammunition.
He shot and killed his live-in girlfriend, Rhena Fultner, 36, then Aunt Rose Rutledge, 63, who lived with them. Then he went to a nearby trailer home of an acquaintance, George Counts, 40, against whom he had a grudge, and fatally shot him, firing more than 150 rounds into Counts' mobile home.
When police arrived, he opened fire again, wounding Marshall police officer Dominic Pondant in the shoulder and turning his patrol car "into Swiss cheese," as authorities described it. Police were out gunned by Steven's .45 and .50 caliber handguns and an AR-15 rifle, but one of his weapons malfunctioned and officer Pondant was able to hit Steven.
He was convicted the following April and ended his trail by telling jurors he should be put to death. They agreed.
He asked that no appeals be pursued. At his execution, he apologized to the family members of the victims and said a prayer.
He was executed on February 9, 1998, after spending the second shortest time on Texas' death row.
The media and Hollywood celebrities were conspicuous by their absence.
I hope he made his peace with Christ. The dead know nothing until Judgement. For Took it will seem just a second after he went to sleep while years or centuries pass in this world. He will awaken and know who God is and his final destination.
I have a feeling it is not God he will be meeting soon, but someone else in a much much warmer place
Um, no. We hold the shooter responsible.
That's who should be held responsible but civil suits have been filed against gun manufacturers held responsible for the shooters actions in NUMEROUS cases and many of them were upheld.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.