Activists to protest ‘Kill Tookie’ show

Community activists plan to hold a protest today against KFI-AM (640) for what they contend is the local station’s race-baiting in airing a popular afternoon talk radio show that has turned the execution of former gang leader Stanley Tookie Williams into entertainment.

A multiracial coalition, spearheaded by the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, hopes that by staging peaceful protests and by filing a formal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission it can pressure the Clear Channel-owned station into canceling “The John and Ken Show’s” daily 5 p.m. observance of the “Tookie Must Die/Kill Tookie” hour. The producers of the show said Tuesday that the station had no plans to cancel the program.

“It does the city of Los Angeles a disservice to have white on-air personalities like John and Ken ridicule an obviously sensitive situation for many blacks that feel Williams was the victim of a racist jury composed mainly of whites,” said Jasmyne Cannick of the Urban Policy Roundtable, which plans to hold the protest in Leimert Park.

Williams, who has gained celebrity for his behind-bars campaign against gangs, is scheduled to be executed Dec. 13 for four 1979 murders in Los Angeles. Over the weekend, more than 1,000 activists, religious leaders and rapper Snoop Dogg gathered at San Quentin State Prison to urge Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to spare Williams’ life.

“If they want to get all outraged and offended over a four-time murderer, I say go for it,” said John Kobylt, who co-hosts the afternoon program with Ken Chiampou. “It’s just going to give us more material to work with.”