Groups seek to remove Schwarzenegger's name from stadium

Posted on Thu, Dec. 15, 2005

Groups seek to remove Schwarzenegger's name from stadium
Associated Press

VIENNA, Austria - Political parties in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown have started a petition drive to remove his name from a sports stadium.

The dispute stems from the governor's decision this week to deny clemency to Stanley Tookie Williams. The co-founder of the Crips gang was executed early Tuesday in San Quentin State Prison for four 1979 murders.

Opposition to the death penalty is strong in Austria, and the once-popular Schwarzenegger has lost much of his shine since becoming California governor for refusing to spare convicted murderers on death row.

The outcry was especially sharp this week after the clemency denial for Williams, who had written children's books warning of the dangers of gang life. Politicians from the Greens party in the southern Austrian city of Graz, Schwarzenegger's hometown, reacted by calling for his name to be removed from the "Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium."

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Graz deputy mayor Walter Ferk said: 'It is not exactly admirable for us to be connected with the death penalty. Therefore, I am in favour of renaming the stadium.'


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