Rapper Snoop Dogg to attend anti-execution rally

Rapper Snoop Dogg to attend anti-execution rally
By KIM CURTIS, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, November 15, 2005

(11-15) 13:55 PST San Francisco (AP) --

Rapper Snoop Dogg will attend a rally Saturday outside San Quentin State Prison to support a former gang leader scheduled to be executed next month, according to an advocacy group.

The former Crips member turned musician will be among thousands expected to protest the Dec. 13 execution of Stanley Tookie Williams, who was sentenced to death in 1981 for killing four people in two Los Angeles robberies.

The rapper wanted to visit Williams, but his application for entry to the prison was denied, according to San Quentin spokesman Vernell Crittendon.

"We were unable to provide him with a security clearance because of his arrest history," he said.

Snoop Dogg has been arrested several times for weapons and drug-related offenses, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. In 1990, he was convicted of felony transporting, possessing and purchasing narcotics, and was sentenced to four years in prison, but that sentence was suspended, corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said. In 1993, Snoop Dogg faced charges in connection with a drive-by shooting, but was later cleared.

On Tuesday, the rapper appealed San Quentin's decision to block his entry to prison. A decision by the warden would be made by Friday, Thornton said.

During his years on death row, Williams has earned international acclaim for his children's books urging kids to stay out of gangs, among other peace-preaching efforts.

An award-winning cable television movie about Williams' life, "Redemption: The Stan 'Tookie' Williams Story," starring Jamie Foxx, also drew attention to his case.

More than a dozen other rallies around the state are scheduled in the next few weeks supporting Williams, whose prison teachings have earned him several Nobel Prize nominations. The rallies include a documentary film screening about Williams in San Francisco, hosted by actor Danny Glover; a discussion led by the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael; and a round-the-clock vigil outside the prison from Dec. 4 until the execution, when people from across the country are expected to demonstrate.

Saturday's rally is scheduled for 10 a.m. PST outside San Quentin's gate, according to Death Penalty Focus, the group organizing the event.

Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, once associated with the Crips, the infamous Los Angeles-area street gang that Williams co-founded. His early recordings offered gritty details about Southern California gang life.