UPDATE 2: Read our view of the racist blitherings left by numbskulls in the comments on this page HERE.
UPDATE: Apparently Gov. Schwarzenegger’s focus groups and polling indicated that he would derive the greatest political benefit from allowing the execution of Tookie Williams to proceed. Barring a last minute stay from the Supreme Court, Williams will receive the lethal injection tonight at 12:01 PM.
And that puts us on riot watch here in Los Angeles. Right now, I’m not feeling it. There hasn’t been a groundswell of protests, and no protests that I’m aware of that weren’t celebrity generated.
It seems very unlikely that the city is going to erupt like it did in 1992. And if it does, we have a better police force now so we can hope for the best.
From December 5, 2005:
Rage redux: The LA Weekly reports that the word is out in the “gang-osphere” that if Crips founder Tookie Williams is executed on Dec. 13, angry mobs are set to riot once again in Los Angeles:
“Took die, the city fry,” said Raymond “The Hatchet Man” Locket, a member of the West Side Harlem Crips, who says he knew Tookie back in the day. “That’s the word on the streets.”
Having lived through the riots in Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict in 1992 and then the Northridge earthquake in 1994 (not to mention the Landers quakes and hundreds of fore- and after-shocks), I personally would take a 6.9 quake over citywide riot any day of the week.
The 1992 Riots
The ’92 riots showed how vulnerable cities are to an angry mob. Looking back, the weeklong state of emergency in Los Angeles 13 years ago also offered a preview of the Katrina disaster in New Orleans this year. There was official negligence: Police chief Darryl Gates was at a fundraiser the night the riots erupted, and purposefully stopped the LAPD from moving in to quell the violence at Florence and Normandy.
Ironically, Gates was raising money that night to fight efforts to reform his police department in the wake of the videotaped beating of Rodney King. It was the not-guilty verdict in the trial of the LAPD officers involved in the beating that sparked the riot April 29.
That night, millions of Angelenos watched local news overnight as the burning and looting escalated and spread across the city. The next morning, when Gates finally deployed the police, the LAPD was massively outnumbered by looters and malcontents. Our Thin Blue Line was a sad and pitiful joke. National coverage of the rioting apparently depicted it as being isolated to the ‘hood but in reality stores were looted Downtown, in Koreatown, Silver Lake, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and all over the city. Smoke and ashes from burning buildings blanketed the Basin and the hlls for days. Just about every Circuit City on the Westside was emptied. Molotov cocktails were tossed out of cars along Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills at the Saks and Barney’s stores. Even the famous lingerie store Fredericks of Hollywood was trashed and picked clean.
Firefighters were hampered from saving lives and property by people firing weapons at them. Emergency medical services were overwhelmed. Citizens with health crises not related to the riots – heart attacks, broken legs, etc. – were out of luck for days. It took Gov. Wilson 72 hours to get the California National Guard onto the scene, and even then, the soldiers discovered they lacked ammunition for their weapons.
The point is, in Los Angeles, we take a threat of rioting seriously. And while it is hard to imagine that the city will once again erupt into violence if Williams is executed, in 1992, no one – including especially the mayor and chief of police – believed there would be riots after the King verdict.
I’m personally opposed to the death penalty (it doesn’t work as a deterrent, and I’m repulsed by the idea of society being in the business of exacting bloodthirsty revenge) but fear of rioting should not stop the execution of Tookie Williams – which is not to say that it shouldn’t be stopped. Williams has steadfastly denied his guilt. Moreover, he’s done his best to make the best out of his life in prison.
Clemency
Of course, Williams has one last chance, and that chance lies with the governor of California. Could there be a more bizarre scenario than having a lunkhead like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the position of deciding whether someone lives or dies? And yet he does. Williams will have a face to face hearing with the governor on Dec. 8. (The first such clemency hearing since 1992.)
Marc Cooper estimates the chances that Arnold will grant a stay of Williams’ execution to be about 40 percent – and he rightly points out that if Williams were facing Schwarzenegger’s Democratic predecessor, Gray Davis, the chance would have been well below zero. An ex-Marine, Davis was an extremist on law and order issues. In fact, in 286 cases in which a parole board had recommended release of prisoners, Davis turned down 100 percent.
Williams was a founder of the Westside Crips, and, as mentioned, he denies that he was involved in the cold-blooded murders of Albert Owens, during a robbery at a 7-Eleven store, and of motel owners Yen-I Yang and Tsai-Shai Chen Yang and their daughter Yu-Chin Yang Lin, at the Brookhaven Motel in South-Central Los Angeles, on February 27, 1979.
He has also spent his time in prison productively. He’s the author of several children’s books that encourage kids to avoid gang life and violence and has even been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Of course, Tookie Williams’ deeds and misdeeds will mean little this governor. He will make the decision based entirely on political considerations, a factor that may spare Tookie Williams’ life.
All Politics
At this point, Schwarzenegger is desperate to regain support among independents. To do this, he appears to be on a path of abandoning the few supporters he currently has, who are all on the extreme right.
Arnold (and his eternally misguided staff and advisers, including his Democratic wife) could well make the political calculation that sparing Tookie might please independents and liberals. If so, the governor will grant clemency to Williams in order to further his own political goals.
On the other hand, if Schwarzenegger denies clemency, we will see if the passions exist in the vast flatlands of South Los Angeles to bring turmoil down onto our heads once again – one week before Christmas.
living and working in los angeles, and nail-bitingly awaiting the decision.
Let them riot, I just bought extra ammo and am ready.
I had fun during the last riot and welcome the chance to pick off a few apes if they come to my neighborhood.
SOONER OR LATER MASSIVE GANG VIOLENCE AND RIOTS WILL HAPPEN IN INNER CITY AREAS. THE RIOTS WILL SPREAD, JUST LIKE IN FRANCE. THE POLICE WILL BE UNABLE TO PROTECT YOU. THEY WILL PROBABLY BE HELD BACK. YOU HAVE TO BE PREPARED TO PROTECT YOURSELF. IT`S TERRIBLE, BUT TRUE. YOUNG BLACK KIDS [mostly] BEING CHEATED OUT OF AN EDUCATION, BY THOSE WHO KEEP THESE KIDS TRAPPED IN FAILING SCHOOLS.
Why would today’s Crips give a damn about him?
He is ancient, plus he’s written anti-gang books.
There will be no riots, just a possible spike in malt liquor sales.
Tookie deserves life in prision. He had a life of violence in his life, but not man, regardless of his past, deserves to have his life taken from him
Free the Tookie monster! Right on bros!
The sooner that nigger tookie dies the better! If nigz want to riot in LA, I say let them! Give the cops and National Guard orders of “shoot to kill.” It will save money in the long run, if we kill a lot of those rioting apes NOW, they won’t commit many more crimes in the future!
Let’s cha-cha, you subhuman bastards!
It’s a free society, except there ain’t nothing free. Because there’s no guarantees you know, you’re on your own, law of the Jungle! Whooo Hooo!
So he wrote childrens books advocating that kids not join gangs. BFD. What about all the deaths from kids who followed his example? What about all the stolen possessions, rapes, and rampant vandalism he encouraged? What about the families of the victims? I say let the SOB die.
As far as the ’92 riots went, Silver Lake and Echo Park had some vandalism but were largely spared from the riots – however many of the areas nearby were really badly hit
I was living in Silver Lake then and on the second night the looters took out the grocery stores and liquor stores on Sunset as well as the Circuit City across the street from KCET, the PBS channel and its studios.
The smoke from the fires covered the hills for days. It permeated our furniture and our clothes.
There were no cops to call, nothing you could do if someone broke into your house, etc. We pushed a heavy piece of furniture in front of our front door and slept with baseball bats by the bed.
It was as close to living in a war zone as I hope I’ll ever be.
I recall the 92 riots, watching them from the safty of my own home here in Canada, well there was a two minute news clip on CNN and it was to do with a snipper perached atop a roof of a liquor store shooting at people on the street for well over a hour. It scared me to think that nothing could be done to pervent this, as there were no police or any thing of that nature around to stop this. The story became old quickly, as there was no follow up on this incident what so ever and often wondered if it could have been gang realted, so mabye Tookie is still a bad infulence after all those years that had gone by leading up to the roits of 92…
REDEMPTION? I DON’T THINK SO. THE ONLY THING THIS PRICK IS SORRY FOR IS THAT HE GOT CAUGHT. IF HE HAD NOT BEEN HE’D STILL BE THE KING OF THE CRIPS. NOT ONLY IS HE GUILTY OF THOSE 4 MURDERS, BUT THOUSANDS OF OTHERS. ALL BE IT INDIRECTLY, BUT GUILTY NONE THE LESS. HE HAS RUINED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF LIVES THROUGH HIS “CREATION”, THE CRIPS. LIVES THAT WERE ENDED PREMATURELY AND LIVES THAT WERE TAKEN OFF TRACK BY “TOOKIE” AND HIS MURDEROUS ASSOCIATES. HE CAN’T SAY “SORRY” ENOUGH AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED. AND YOU CAN’T KILL HIM ENOUGH BECAUSE HIS LEGACY WILL LIVE ON THROUGH ALL THE “TOOKIES” HE’S CREATED.
KILL KILL KILL THAT DIRTY ASS NIG!!!! JUST LIKE HE KILED KILED KILED THE WHITE GUY, AND THE THREE ASIANS.
Come on you monkey niggers, riot! Please riot! Get the fucking illegal aliens to join you. Then we can shoot all your welfare check cashing asses.
If you want to know why they WILL riot, look at the comments above. It’s a disgrace to see so much racism in this day and age. BTW – a bullet knows no color, so when the rioters start shooting, it might not be the “monkey niggers” that catch it. Watch your backs if you still hold on to those racist beleifs.
to all you rascists. its easy to hate, try having some tolerance for other people. you dont seem to realise that the main point of the free tookie campaign is based on the fact that he saves lives rather than allegedly taking them. what type of message does this send to kids in gangs now? that they cant redeem themselves? and yes this applies to white gangs aswell. Try and think about the bigger picture rather than just your smallminded views and stop trying to make minorities a scapegoat for all Americas problems
illmindmuzik6@hotmail.com
The blatant racism on this board makes me cringe. The death penalty is not a deterrent. The courts had no choice yesterday but to rule on the evidence in favor of rejecting the last minute appeal. Meanwhile, the Governor should have commuted his sentence to life in prison. When people take away from our society, they should have to spend the rest of their lives giving back. To me, the death penalty is an easier way out. And, it is more expensive to boot.
It’s not racism, it’s simply birds of a feather flocking together.
They don’t have the guts to bring it on…
I am also against the death penalty, but I don’t think he should gain clemency for fear of riots. Perhaps the police should prepare as if they are assuming there will be riots. Although I doubt the riots would affect my area of the city directly (Brentwood), I hate to see this type of violence occur anywhere. Racial violence is quite ridiculous, we are all people. And for the record, I am a white businesswoman.
Those are the same nigger monkeys that are going to be fucking your lil white daughters, and beating your punk ass white son’s down on the street. You’re all just scared because you know that you would all HAVE to get a gun if the original man, the superior specimen EVER decided to choke your punk asses out. You are weaklings, and genetic scum. Keep preparing for the war cause if it ever does pop off..you are finished and you KNOW it.
Those are the same nigger monkeys that are going to be fucking your lil white daughters, and beating your punk ass white son’s down on the street. You’re all just scared because you know that you would all HAVE to get a gun if the original man, the superior specimen EVER decided to choke your punk asses out. You are weaklings, and genetic scum. Keep preparing for the war cause if it ever does pop off..you are finished and you KNOW it.
I think this guy deserves what he did no matter what he says. He took innocent people’s lives and tore their families apart. The rapes, murders, robberies…how can you justify something like that.
Killing him won’t change anything but, I think It’ll give those families some closure to move on feeling that justice was finally served.
I am white, and I know that whites can and do commit violkent acts, and there are whiter gangs in our cities just as there are Black, Asian and Hispanic gangs. All this racist talk is a lot of bullshit, and if you all actually hate others that much because of their race, then you are poor excuses for humans.
As for Mr. Tookie Williams, if he is indeed guillty of the heinous crimes that he was convicted of, then he should be punsihed by forfeiture of his life. I know that if anyone, of whatever race, killed a loved one of mine, if the state didn’t kill them, I would! I believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. And I believe that executions should be public as they are in a number of countries that have very low crime rates. Public exectutions deter creime, but not executions the public cannot see.
However, before the death penalty is applied, everyone concerned must be damned sure the person is indeed guilty. It would be a trqavesty of justice to execute an innocent man, so extra care needs to be taken with the death penalty. But, when it is clear beyond any doubt that a condemned person is indeed guilty of a heinous crime, such a murder, then that person should pay with his/her life.
AT 1201AM THAT ASS BELONGS TO ME, YOU FUCKEN BITCH. NOW WRITE ME SOME BOOK BITCH. I COULDNT GET O.J THEY LET SNOOP GET AWAY, BUT YOUR DUMB ASS COULDNT ESCAPE.
ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS “THANK GOD FOR THE SICLE CELL :) All niggers must hang!!!! Sorry a needle will do….
Look, I am somewhat racist. I really do not care about color of skin, myself. I have some black aquaintences that I get along with just fine.
The reason I personally consider myself racist, and actually agree with a lot of what the extreme racists say is this…
Black people, especially the likes of Williams and the threatening rioters, are the bad guys. Rap is ridiculous. Not because its made by black people, but because it sounds retarded. White rap sucks, too.
Black violence is higher. Not to mention the annoying tone and butchering of the language. There’s just nothing to admire about the majority of black people. Sorry, but it’s their own fault.
what gives you people the right to pass judgement on someone else?
“LET TOOKIE LIVE” the man has redeemed himself he has written books and saved lives. many others have also murdered and their still roaming the streets and no one has done anything about it. “LET TOOKIE LIVE” he’s a changed man he wont kill again but he can help more people stay out of gangs and also redeem themselves like he has. “LET TOOKIE LIVE”
“LET TOOKIE LIVE”