5 l?l ^Juvtlanò (iDbseruer
Page A2
May 05. 2004
Crips Gang
Founder
Brokers Peace
Turns live around
to help kids
photo by
S ta n le y “ T ookie" W illiam s, fo u n d e r o f
the Crips s tre e t gang.
(NNPA)— The authorof nine children’s
books promoting peace, a man who says
he has dedicated his life to helping youth,
and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee whose
life has been made into a movie starring
Jamie Foxx, is second in line to be executed
by the State o f California.
Stanley "Tookie” W illiams has been on
death row in San Quentin for 23 years. The
co-founder o f the notorious Crips street
gang, Williams transformed his life during
a six-year stint in solitary confinement.
Williams, who admits and apologizes for
his part in creating the Crips, maintains his
innocence in the crimes that sent him to
death row— the murders of four people
during two robberies that netted $120.
“I apologize to you all, children of
America and South Africa, who must cope
every day with dangerous street gangs. I
no longer participate in the so-called gang-
continued
on page A6
il!t P o r t l a n d
(Ifr b s e r u c r
_________ USPS 959-680________
Established 1970
474 7 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.,
Portland, OR 97211
E d it iir - i n -C h ie f . P u b l is h e r :
Charles H. Washington
E d it o r :
M ichael L eighton
D is t r ib u t io n M ana g er :
M ark W ashington
C r ea tiv e D irecto r :
Paul N eu feld t
O f f ic e M anager :
K athy L inder
R e p o r t e r :
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Interstate Max Opens to Festive Crowds
Max tra in s on In te rs ta te Avenue were ja m m e d with passengers a n d each s ta tio n was fille d w ith tra n s it riders oN the o p ening day o f light-rail tra n s it in north
Portland. A bout 2 1 ,0 0 0 rides were taken betw een dow ntow n and the Expo C enter Saturday as area re sid e n ts trie d o u t the new lin e and visite d m any o f the
c o m m u n ity ce le b ra tio n s h e ld along the Yellow Line. A bout 1 6 ,7 4 0 rides were taken on the new extension Sunday.
Prisoner Abuse Outrages Arab World
Photos undermine American claims to high moral ground
(A P) — T he reported abuse
o f Iraqi prisoners by U.S. sol
diers th reaten s to underm ine
part o f P resident B u sh ’s ratio
n ale fo r u n s e a tin g S ad d am
H ussein: that the U nited States
had ended a regim e that was
torturing and abusing Iraqis.
T h e d isc lo su re s u n d erm in e
A m eric an claim s to a m oral
high g ro u n d as th e U. S. tries
to put d o w n a g ro w in g in su r
gen cy an d gain in te rn atio n a l
su p p o rt in Iraq.
“ S ad d am H ussein e n c o u r
ag ed an d to le rate d th is k ind o f
b e h a v io r - th e U .S. d o es n o t,”
B ush
sp o k esm an
S c o tt
M c C le lla n said M o n d ay , re
p o rtin g th at the p resid e n t had
c a lle d D e f e n s e S e c r e ta r y
D onald H. R u m sfeld to m ake
sure any g u ilty so ld ie rs are
p u n ish e d .
E v en so, the alleg a tio n o f
m is tr e a tm e n t o f p r is o n e r s
“ m ak es the U .S. an d co a litio n
fo rces a le g itim ate en em y in
the ey es o f m ore A rab s than
w as th e c a se b e fo re ,” said
A n th o n y C o rd esm an , an e x
p ert on M id d le E ast secu rity
issu es a, th e C e n te r fo r S tra
Jaym ee R. C uti
m istre atm en t o f d e ta in e e s fo l
lo w in g the Sept. 11 te rro r a t
ta c k s, in c lu d in g th e c o n tin
u ed h o ld in g o f 6 0 0 on a U .S.
b a s e in G u a n ta n a m o B a y ,
C uba.
“ T h is ju s t r e c o n fir m s an
im a g e th a t w e a re n o t tr e a t
in g p r is o n e r s th e w a y th a t
c iv iliz e d p e o p le s h o u ld ,” said
Iv o D a a ld e r, a fo re ig n p o lic y
a n a ly s t at th e B ro o k in g s I n
s titu tio n . “ W e n e e d a fu ll
c o u r t p re s s by th e a d m in is
tr a tio n to d e m o n s tr a te th a t
Am erican s o ld ie rs s ta n d be h ind a pyram id o f
th is is u n a c c e p ta b le b e h a v
n a ke d Iraqi priso n e rs a t the Abu Ghraib p riso n
An Iraqi prisoner who reportedly was told he
io r, th a t if it h a p p e n e d p e o p le
n e a r Baghdad. (AP p h o to s /C o u rte s y o f The New
would be electrocuted if he fell o ff a box.
w ill be p u n is h e d , th a t if it is
Yorker)
ta k in g p la c e th a t it w ill s to p .”
teg ic and In tern atio n al S tu d
“T h is has been a very d iffi d ay th a t U .S . so ld ie rs “ are
A m n e s ty I n te r n a tio n a l, a
ies.
cu lt p erio d . I d o n ’t th in k it is th ere to h elp , not to h u rt.”
L o n d o n -b a s e d h u m a n -rig h ts
“ A n y th in g sh o rt o f a co u rt- to o late fo r us to g et th is rig h t,
“T he actions o f a few , I trust, g ro u p , a lle g e d a m o n th s -lo n g
m artial o f g en eral o ffic e rs w ill b u t I d o n 't th in k w e h av e a lot will not overw helm the g o o d “ p a tte rn o f to r tu r e ” o f Ira q i
be seen th ro u g h o u t the region o f tim e to turn th is a ro u n d ,” ness that com es from so many p r i s o n e r s
by
c o a litio n
as a c o v e r-u p .”
said S an d y B e rg er, P resid en t o f o u r soldiers,” Pow ell said.
tr o o p s , a n d c a lle d fo r an in
T h e w o rld w id e c irc u la tio n C lin to n ’s n atio n al secu rity a d
M ore U .S. so ld iers w ere b e d e p e n d e n t in v e s tig a tio n . A
o f p h o to s sh o w in g U .S. so l v ise r.
ing rep rim a n d ed , a se n io r U .S. le a d in g a s s o c ia tio n o f Ira q i
d ie rs h u m iliatin g and ab u sin g
T h u s far, U .S. o ffic ia ls have m ilitary o ffic ia l said M onday S u n n i M u slim c le r ic s c a lle d
Ira q i p ris o n e rs at th e U .S . co n d e m n e d the p riso n e r tre a t in B ag h d ad . Six U .S. m ilitary fo r an in te r n a tio n a l in v e s ti
A rm y -ru n A bu G h ra ib prison m en t as an ab e rra tio n . Bush p o lic e w e re a lre a d y fa c in g g a tio n . A n d I r a q ’s in te r io r
has further stoked international e x p r e s s e d “ d e e p d is g u s t.” c h a rg e s.
m in is te r d e m a n d e d an Ira q i
d isap p ro v al o f th e U .S. and S e c r e t a r y o f S ta te C o lin
T h e a lle g a tio n s co u ld re in ro le in th e ru n n in g o f all p r is
B ritish o ccu p atio n .
P o w ell to ld rep o rters on M on- fo rce to the w orld an im ag e o f o n s .
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Farrakhan Condemns Alleged Abuse
(A P) — N ation o f Islam leader Louis
Farrakhan condemned the alleged abuse of
Iraqi prisoners by the U.S. military Monday,
saying it was the latest example of U.S. unjus
tified violence against Islamic nations.
“The whole Muslim world is seeing this, and
the whole Muslim world is rising in anger and
hatred that has never been,” Farrakhan said in
a 1 1/2 hour speech before several hundred
supporters at the National Press Club.
“Soon it will be that no American will be able
totravel, because they will kill Americans in the
Arab and Muslim worlds,” he said.
The
P o rtla n d
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PosrxMsro;: Send address changes to
Portland Observer P0 Box 3 1 3 7, Portland,
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Subscriptions are $60.00 peryear
Farrakhan criticized the war in Iraq, citing the
lack o f evidence o f weapons of mass destruction
in the country and the unproven link between
Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.
Farrakhan also cautioned his supporters against
blindly supporting Democratic Sen. John Kerry
in the presidential election, noting that thecandi-
date has refrained from supporting slave repara
tions.
“I know you are Democrats and I know you
want Sen. Kerry to win,” he said. “But I say to
the black leadership, don’t lead people to the polls
before you put up an agenda.”
5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 3 3
FAX 5 0 3 - 2 8 8 - 0 0 1 5
NAACP May Sue Over Excessive Force Kerry Invites Sharpton
reAPrsSportlandoheer^room
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■J
Police pattern of
behavior cited
(A P )-C incinnati police used
excessive force in subduing a
350-pound black man who died
shortly after the struggle, a civil
rights leader said.
A pathologist concluded that
Nathaniel Jones suffocated dur
ing the struggle, said Calvert
Smith, chapter president of the
NAAC People.
Smith said the pathologist's
results show that police must
share responsibility for Jones’
death. He said the NAACP was
considering a federal civil rights
lawsuit.
A prosecutor closed the case
March 22, saying an investiga
tion persuaded him that police
committed no crimes.
Smith said the NAACP hired
its own forensic pathologist,
who concluded that Jones, 41,
suffocated during the struggle
with the officers.
"This reflects a pattern o f be
havior by the police that has
resulted in the deaths o f too many
African-American men in this
city,” Smith said.
Jones was at least the 19th
black man to die in violent con
frontations with Cincinnati po
lice since 1995. Police union lead
ers said the men who died threat
ened officers with weapons.
Jo n e s’ struggle with police
occurred Nov. 30 in a fast-food
restaurant parking lot. A vid
eotape from a police car showed
Jones knocking o ver one o f
ficer before officers jab b ed or
struck him tw odozen times with
n ig h tstick s for alm ost three
m inutes until he was h an d
cuffed.
The officers — five whites
and one black — were put on
administrative leave for a week
and then returned to duty.
Smith said the NAACP report
found that Jones bears some re
sponsibility for his death be
cause he had consumed drugs
that could produce combative
behavior.
to Share Podium
Sen. John Kerry, the forerun
ning Democratic nominee for presi
dent, invited his former opponent
Rev. Al Sharpton to speak at the
Democratic National Convention
in Boston this summer.
The invitation came out o f a
Black Entertainment Television
interview with nightly news an
chor Jacque Reid.
“If he wants to do it, he can do
it," said Kerry in an interview ex
cerpt released by BET. “I think
he'll add something.”
Kerry said Sharpton would have
apositive impact on the campaign,
praising the New York political
Al Sharpton
leader for the frank, forthright and
often humorous rhetorical deliv
ery that set him apart from other
Democratic challengers.
This invitation comes amid scru
tiny o f Kerry’s com m itm ent to d i
versity among upper echelons of
government.
t