Crips Target of Prison Lockdown

Authorities at Corcoran State Prison have locked 1,300 African American general-population inmates in their cells with limited privileges as they investigate whether incarcerated members of the Crips street gang are conspiring to attack prison staffers in retaliation for the anticipated execution of the gang’s co-founder.

Stanley “Tookie” Williams, 49, has been on death row at San Quentin State Prison since 1981, condemned after his conviction in the 1979 murders of four people during robberies at a convenience store and a motel in Los Angeles.

Enjoying mythic status among young-generation Crips, Williams won a different kind of fame two years ago when a member of the Swiss parliament nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize for a series of children’s books he co-wrote.

Last month, correctional officers at Corcoran discovered a so-called “kite,” or written message, directing Crips to attack and kill high-ranking prison staff members. Corcoran officials say the anonymous kite may have been sent on behalf of Williams, whose court appeals are winding down, though they caution that their inquiry is not complete.

“He’s a piece of the puzzle, and we’re investigating his connection,” said Lt. Johnny Castro, a Corcoran spokesman. “This kite is pretty vague ... but given the assaults we’ve had at several institutions, we’re taking it very seriously.”

About 3,800 inmates of all races at two other prisons -- Pelican Bay in far northern California and Salinas Valley in Soledad -- also are on lockdown status because of recent assaults on staff members by African American inmates. Investigations into those assaults continue, but so far have turned up no link to Williams.

Locking down inmates by race is a common practice within the prison system, where competing ethnic or gang affiliations can lead to violence. The 1,300 African Americans locked down at Corcoran make up about 35% of the general prison population. Separately housed in maximum security units are 1,200 of the prison’s most dangerous inmates.

The San Francisco lawyer handling Williams’ court appeals, Andrea Asaro, could not be reached for comment Monday.

But the co-author and editor of Williams’ children’s books, Barbara Becnel, said that, during a visit this weekend with Williams at San Quentin, he told her that his cell had been searched twice in recent days and that he had been informed of the rumor.

“Stan has absolutely no idea where such a rumor came from,” Becnel said. “He is no longer a member of the Crips. He has nothing to do with gang activity.”

For years, the penal system has periodically been abuzz with speculation that Williams might direct Crips systemwide to attack prison officials when his execution drew near, said Russ Heimerich, a Department of Corrections spokesman in Sacramento. Given Williams’ status as the gang’s co-founder, officials do not ignore such talk.

“Any time we have a Crip attack a staff member, we look for the link to Tookie,” Heimerich said. “At this point, we’re looking at a number of plots to assault staff and we don’t know that it’s got anything to do with Tookie.”

The investigation was spawned by a series of events at Corcoran on June 19, beginning with the discovery of the unsigned kite and its link to a Crip inmate believed to have been a courier or to have been connected in some other way, Castro said.

Several hours later, a cache of inmate-manufactured knives was discovered in an area of the exercise yard controlled by Crips. Then, during routine pat-down searches of inmates by officers, one prisoner became confrontational, Castro said. As the guards attempted to quiet the man, a dozen Crips approached in a “threatening manner.”

“That was uncommon, because usually during searches inmates know to stay away,” Castro said. “In this case, they were reluctant to disperse until the sergeant gave a direct order and then, finally, drew his pepper spray.”

Initially, Corcoran officials locked down, or placed on cell restriction, only those inmates in the housing unit where the incident occurred. As the investigation continued, however, new evidence prompted authorities to extend the lockdown to all black inmates in the prison’s high-security buildings, Castro said. While on lockdown, inmates are fed in their cells, and privileges, such as visiting and yard time, are restricted.

Also remaining on lockdown are about 3,200 inmates at Salinas Valley, where a Crip inmate slashed a correctional officer in the neck on June 23 and two other prisoners interfered with guards who attempted to restrain the assailant.

Prison spokesman Eloy Medina said officials are searching cells and interviewing inmates as part of a “threat assessment” triggered by the incident. The three suspects have been transferred to segregation cells at another prison.

To the north in Crescent City, meanwhile, about 600 inmates at Pelican Bay remain on lockdown because of an assault on a guard there June 21. Lt. Steven Perez, a prison spokesman, said the officer was stabbed seven times in the head and neck by an inmate wielding a makeshift knife.

Other officers subdued the prisoner with pepper spray, and he was taken to an isolation cell, where he remains. An investigation is continuing, Perez said, but authorities believe the Pelican Bay attack was an isolated incident unrelated to the note found at Corcoran.

Corrections officials estimate there are 1,500 Crips incarcerated in California. Other street gangs with strong memberships behind bars include the Mexican Mafia, the Fresno Bulldogs and the Aryan Brotherhood.

Williams, nicknamed “Big Took” because weightlifting gave him Hulk-like proportions, launched the Crips in 1971 with Raymond Lee Washington as “an alliance” to protect their neighborhoods from other gangs.

He was convicted of the 1979 robberies and murders of a convenience store clerk and three members of a family who ran a motel in Los Angeles.

Williams denies involvement in the crimes, and his case is pending before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

He has not exhausted his legal appeals, but he could be nearing the end of the process, according to the state attorney general’s office.

The California Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and death sentence in 1988, and ruled against him in a separate habeas corpus appeal six years later. Last year, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court affirmed lower court judgments that Williams had been properly convicted. Attorneys for Williams filed a petition for rehearing before the 9th Circuit last November. There is no deadline by which the appellate court must rule.

If his petition is rejected, he probably next will turn to the U.S. Supreme Court. Williams will have few avenues left if the high court turns down that appeal. In any event, it is unlikely he will be executed this year.

Becnel, a Richmond journalist who co-wrote and edited eight anti-gang primers with Williams, said the convict “works dutifully” on children’s books, and continues to believe that he won’t be executed.

“Everything is false, from the very premise that he is going to be executed,” Becnel said. “He has faith in God. He has faith in his attorney. He has faith in the 9th Circuit.”