Gov.’s Name Removed From Graz Stadium

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Austrian hometown of Graz removed his name from the city’s stadium over Christmas, amid anger over his decision to deny clemency for Stanley Tookie Williams.

Austrian news agency APA reported that the stadium’s entrance now displays only its historical name, “Graz-Liebenau,” and quoted an anonymous city official as saying that Schwarzenegger’s name had been removed overnight to avoid a public furor. Graz city officials were not reachable on Monday, a holiday in Austria.

Left-wing politicians launched a petition drive in Graz to have the stadium renamed because the governor allowed Williams’ execution to proceed.

Williams, an ex-leader of the Crips gang who was convicted of four murders and who supporters say had redeemed himself by campaigning against gang violence, was executed Dec. 13 after Schwarzenegger and the courts rejected his appeals.

Graz Mayor Siegfried Nagl opposed renaming the stadium, but a City Council majority of Social Democrats, Communists and Green Party members supported it.

That prompted Schwarzenegger to turn the tables and withdraw his name himself. On Dec. 19, Schwarzenegger demanded that Graz stop using his name on the stadium and in promotions. He returned a “ring of honor” that he had been awarded by city officials in 1999, saying politicians in his hometown appeared to have rejected him.

Schwarzenegger, a former bodybuilding champion and Hollywood star, trained at the stadium as a young man. It was renamed in his honor in 1997.