Rapper Urges Clemency for Killer

SAN QUENTIN —  A peaceful, multiracial crowd including religious leaders and rapper Snoop Dogg crammed onto a street outside San Quentin State Prison on Saturday to urge Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to spare the life of convicted murderer and former gang leader Stanley Tookie Williams.

More than 1,000 people attended the protest, described by a California Highway Patrol official as one of the largest ever against an execution at the Marin County prison.

“He should be in jail, but the death penalty, that’s way too much,” said Nobel Broach, 16, of Oakland, who explained that he was moved by Williams after watching “Redemption,” a TV movie about the convict in which he was played by Jamie Foxx.

Later in the day, Williams himself addressed a youth conference at a Santa Clara hotel, calling from prison to urge them to work hard against gang violence.

Williams, who has gained celebrity and Nobel Prize nominations for his behind-bars campaign against gangs, is scheduled to be executed Dec. 13 for convictions in four 1979 murders in Los Angeles.

The co-founder of the Crips street gang, Williams denies he committed the killings, which occurred during two robberies less than two weeks apart.

The 51-year-old convict and his supporters, including a notable contingent from Hollywood, are asking the governor to commute Williams’ sentence to life without the possibility of parole.

Los Angeles County prosecutors, a statewide prosecutors group and relatives of his victims have adamantly opposed clemency. They say Williams deserves to die for his crimes and for helping start a gang that has claimed thousands of lives over the years.

They also doubt his conversion, noting that he has not admitted to the crimes and has refused to provide information to law enforcement about other gang members. Williams has said he doesn’t want to be a “snitch.”

“The family of the victims of Williams’ crimes have been living with this for 25 years,” said Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer. “It’s been a very long and difficult time for them. Some of the individuals expressing support for Williams have not lost a loved one to murder.”

Schwarzenegger told reporters Thursday in Shanghai that he had not made up his mind about whether to grant Williams clemency and was approaching the decision with dread.

At Saturday’s rally, Snoop Dogg, who has spoken with Williams by telephone, told the crowd that he considered the inmate an inspirational figure. He said he was so moved by Williams’ decision to renounce gangs that he also wants to spread the anti-violence message.

After watching “Redemption,” the rapper said, he decided that he “really needed to be contacting the kids.”

The entertainer said he used to belong to the Crips in Long Beach but “learned how to better control myself and my attitude.”

The rapper was acquitted of murder charges in Los Angeles in 1996 and pleaded guilty the following year to being an ex-felon in possession of a handgun.

Williams’ “influence is really rubbing off on me, and I control lots of people on the streets, and what I do right, they do right,” said the rapper, who wore a white T-shirt with “savetookie.org” in large black letters.

During the rally, the crowd frequently broke into chants: “Long Live Tookie Williams,” and a Buddhist called for a moment of silence for the victims of gang violence.

Several speakers exhorted the crowd to save their neighborhoods from gangs.

Williams has said that he decided while in solitary confinement more than 10 years ago to try to help youngsters avoid his fate. He has written nine books aimed at youths, and his supporters have nominated him several times for the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Prize for literature.

Among the speakers at Saturday’s rally was Abu Qadir Al-Amin, a gray-bearded African American whose death sentence was overturned. He said he went to death row at the age of 19 and eventually was paroled with the help of an associate prison warden.

“God has me here as a sign that people change,” said Al-Amin, who now runs a juvenile justice program in San Francisco.

Vickie Lindsey, whose son was killed by gang violence in 1995, told the crowd that she left Los Angeles at 1 a.m. to attend the rally because if Williams is executed “and they find out it was a mistake, they can’t bring him back.”

Donald Lacy, who runs a youth group in Oakland, held up a picture of his late daughter, who was killed at the age of 16 in a drive-by gang shooting in 1997 “by young, confused brothers.”

“We must save [Williams’] life so he can save other lives,” Lacy said.

After the rally, Snoop Dogg went to the Santa Clara conference of student leaders where Williams called from prison to participate in a panel discussion. Williams told 1,200 rapt high school students at the Santa Clara Marriott that only hard work and hope will help eradicate gang violence.

“There is no elixir” to end the gang-related murders that plague troubled cities such as Richmond, Calif., Williams told members of Junior State of America, a 71-year-old organization designed to inspire high school students to be active in politics. “There is no quick fix. It will take your effort, your parents’ effort [and] ... activists in the immediate area.... It seems like there is no hope, but there is.”

Williams was part of a panel discussion during which young people in suits and ties asked the condemned man about his prison experience, wondered what he would say to the parents of gang-violence victims and, in one case, told him that he’s “got mad love coming from L.A.”

In barely audible tones, Williams said that he, too, has lost people he loved to gangs.

“I understand,” he said. “I regret it all. I have written an apology to the mothers of not just South-Central but throughout California and this nation. I regret that any child has lost his or her life to gang violence ... whether it’s to Crips or Bloods ... it’s a sad thing. That’s why I’ve written books and continue to do whatever I can.”

Williams appeared to downplay the campaign to spare his life, changing the subject when asked about it.

“That’s wonderful that they’ve been putting forth effort for the clemency,” he said, “but it’s very necessary to eliminate all the violence.... I believe that it can be done with prayers and extreme effort.”

In a question-and-answer session with Snoop Dogg, one young man asked how he could claim allegiance to the Crips in his song lyrics when Williams is fighting to stop the gang that he founded.

“I’m a representation of them,” the entertainer said. “I represent them in a positive manner.... I will always be connected to it.... There’s such a thing as represent it the right way, and that’s what I intend to do.”

Rebecca Owens, the daughter of one of those Williams was convicted of murdering, and San Francisco Chronicle columnist Debra Saunders are to address the conference today from the victims’ point of view.

*

Dolan reported from San Quentin and LaGanga from Santa Clara.