In response to Williams' petition for clemency, the District Attorney reported to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger the damage caused society by the Crips gang:
This gang is responsible for the regular commission of crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, and drug sales. The gang has taken over large areas of many of our communities. As a result, hard-working, law abiding citizens are forced to live in daily fear that gang members might take their lives.
In 2004 alone, in the City of Los Angeles alone, gang-related crimes accounted for 291 homicides, 717 attempted homicides, 2616 felony assaults, 61 attacks on police officers, 2308 robberies, 44 kidnappings, 36 rapes, 754 acts of witness intimidation, 20 acts of extortion, and 188 carjackings. (P. Exh. 5).
Of course, these statistics only cover those crimes in which the victim was brave enough to contact the police. Many more victims, acting under the fear of gang retaliation, never even contact the authorities. Instead, they simply continue living in submissive fear of the gang members that control their communities.
Plague to Society
Although Stanley Williams is not directly responsible for every gang crime committed today, he was an integral founding member of a gang that has contributed, and continues to contribute, to the gang problem with devastating force.This plague on our society continues to spread, and continues to take lives on a daily basis. Williams unleashed this violence in no less a manner than if he had released a deadly virus into our communities.
