I tried hard not to write about it. I just can't.
But I don't want to trigger a bunch of arguments on death penalty and the innocence, or not, of Tookey Williams, whose life was terminated early this morning by lethal injection at the hands of California state employees. That's why there will be no access to comments to this post.
What I am most outraged about is the way our governor handled the matter. In cold blood, so to say. Delegating his lawyers to go "through the papers". Quoting statements released by Williams at his trial more than twenty years ago (when he was, admittedly, just a boasting, sprung gangbanger.) Refusing to meet Tookey Williams in person.
Had he done so, our dear governor would have been impressed by the amazing honesty of this man, a different one from the gangster who once lived in his pants. A man who took full responsibility of his past lifestyle and dedicated his years in prison to destroy his image as a possible- bad!- role model.
He did not take responsibility for the four murders, technically speaking, because he cannot recall pulling the trigger. "Since at that time I was constantly high on drugs", as he admitted to me when I interviewed him in San Quentin Death Row.
So taking the life of this man, who was certainly much more useful to society alive, governor Schwazenegger is sending out a precise message to young black kids who might have been involved in gangs and made some bad mistakes.
"You know what? Don't even bother trying to redeem yourself since one day we'll finally get you. And we'll make you pay with your life for your mistakes, no matter how good you've become in the years to come."
Great job, governor. You're really smart and brave. You authorized the state-assisted murder of one of the few men these kids were listening to, since "he had been there". Or do you think they'd rather listen to you, if you ever dared to show up in some Watts high school in your tailored suit, with your plastic smile?
Recent Comments