Yesterday Snoop Dogg, the official state Dogg of California, publicly called out Terminator Emeritus Arnold Schwarzenegger on Instagram, referring to the former governor as a “straight bitch,” a “punk,” and a “racist.” Snoop’s diatribe is predicated on what he sees as disparate treatment of criminals by the Austrian actor. He points out that as governor, Schwarzenegger commuted the sentence of Esteban Nuñez, son of Fabian Nuñez, a California state Assembly speaker and a political ally of Schwarzenegger’s, while allowing Stanley “Tookie” Williams, a former Crip gang leader who in later years had spoken out against violence, to be executed in 2005.
Esteban Nuñez went to jail in 2010 on a manslaughter charge after participating in the 2008 murder of Luis Santos. After Schwarzenegger’s intervention, Nuñez ended up serving less than six of the 16 years of his sentence, and was released this past Sunday. “My son [was] stabbed in the heart when he was alive,” Fred Santos, Luis’s father told CNN last year. “Schwarzenegger stabbed him in the back after my son is killed.”
Tookie Williams, on the other hand, went to jail for four murders in 1979 and is one of the founders of the Crips, but then spent much of his time in prison condemning his own crimes, composing anti-gang violence literature and even writing children’s books warning against the dangers of gangs. Williams’ repentance and subsequent good works seemed apparent to many onlookers who followed his life in the 25 years after his criminal undertakings. That’s why, despite his background and contribution to California’s gang culture, prominent figures like South African Bishop Desmond Tutu and Joan Baez fought to stop Williams’ execution. Williams was even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
“Arnold punk ass didn’t let tookie out or reduce his sentence,” wrote Snoop on Instagram. “N he was a Nobel piece prize nominee. Sad day in politics. Fuck u Arnold n the horse u rode in on bitch.”
Schwarzenegger’s actions in the Nuñez case have been a point of broad contention since he left office. At the time, the former governor had this maddening response to the controversy: “Of course you help a friend.” And last year at a California appeals court hearing, Associate Judge Harry Hull Jr. said, “We are compelled to conclude that, while Schwarzenegger’s conduct could be seen as deserving of censure and grossly unjust, it was not illegal.”
Snoop continued his Instagram campaign against Schwarzenegger throughout the day, posting several videos and statements on the issue and coming up with increasingly creative insults that you should really just check out if you want to see some avant-garde use of profanity.
Whether you believe Williams’ behind-bars transformation was enough to prove him a changed man, or even just enough to keep him from death at the hands of the state, it’s not hard to see the hypocrisy in Schwarzenegger’s actions. When two and half decades of out and loud remorse don’t earn you a reprieve from execution, it’s pretty hard to see why those with politically powerful connections should be spared from the consequences of their actions.
