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Title: Bernard Goetz's Subway Gunshots Echo Still
Source:
Real Clear Politics
URL Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/ar ... unshots_echo_still_125034.html
Published: Dec 22, 2014
Author: Carl M. Cannon
Post Date: 2014-12-23 18:54:41 by Dakmar
Keywords: None
Views: 560
Comments: 19
Across the nation, law enforcement personnel are on high alert after the weekend’s assassination of two New York City patrolmen, one a newlywed and the other a devoted father of two. It’s hard to read about hate crimes at Christmastime, but that’s what this was, pure and simple. Violent crime that takes the lives of the innocent, regardless of whether they are in uniform -- or whether the shooter is a police officer -- reverberate through the victims families’ for generations. And when motivated by politics and race, they roil the entire country. Just such a shooting took place 30 years ago today, when a 37-year-old electrical engineer named Bernard H. Goetz was approached by four young men on a subway car in lower Manhattan. Goetz still lives in New York, but when it comes to street crime, the Big Apple of today is a different place than it was on December 22, 1984, when he boarded the Seventh Avenue express train near his Manhattan home. New York City had one of the highest crimes rates in the country. It has always been a tough town, but from the mid-1960s to 1980, violent felonies had tripled in the city. Realistic concerns about being a crime victim had become one of the defining characteristics of living in New York. The subway system provided no respite or sanctuary. Its infrastructure was a mess, “deferred maintenance” being the preferred euphemism as transit authorities struggled vainly to keep ahead of vandals who smashed thousands of windows on the subway cars. Richard Ravitch, chairman of the MTA, candidly told a city business group in 1982 that he himself was nervous about riding the trains at night -- and had forbade his teenage sons from doing so. Millions of New Yorkers felt the same way: By the end of that year, ridership had declined to its lowest levels since World War I. For many residents, however, mass transit remained their only viable means of commuting to work. One of those New Yorkers was Bernard Goetz, a bespectacled passenger who looked, as Darrell Cabey later told Jimmy Breslin, “like easy bait.” He wasn’t, but Cabey and his three companions didn’t realize that until too late. Goetz had been recently robbed and assaulted, and was so incensed by the lenient treatment of his assailants that he’d sought permission to carry a licensed firearm. His petition was denied, but he bought one anyway, a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson, which he was carrying, hidden, on the fateful subway ride. Darrell Cabey was 19, as were two of his mates, Troy Canty and Barry Allen. A fourth youth, James Ramseur, was 18. All were from the Bronx and on this day they were carrying screwdrivers, apparently with the intention of breaking into video machines at an arcade and stealing the change. When they saw Goetz, Canty and Ramseur approached him and said, “Give me five dollars.” The young men later said they were panhandling; Goetz took it as a threat. He stood up, pulled out his revolver and fired five shots. One missed, but the other four all hit their targets. None of the boys were killed, but Cabey was grievously wounded: He would never walk again. The “Subway Vigilante,” as he was dubbed in the tabloids, turned himself in to police. He was charged with assault and put on trial. A jury of his peers -- that is to say, beleaguered New Yorkers -- were receptive to Goetz’s claims of self-defense, and he was convicted only of the gun charge. He served eight months for that -- it would be a lot longer today -- and resumed his life. In the ensuing three decades, his name has surfaced from time to time: He has run for office, marched in a vegan parade, was pinched last year on a marijuana charge (since dropped). Life didn’t go smoothly for the young men he shot. Darrell Cabey sued Goetz in civil court and was awarded $43 million, none of which he has ever collected. Barry Allen continued his life of petty crime and did some time in prison. Troy Canty went into drug rehab, and was later arrested for domestic abuse. In an apparent attempt at revenge, James Ramseur reported to police that after he left the hospital, two men hired by Goetz kidnapped him at gunpoint, claims that were quickly unraveled as a hoax. A little over a year later, he was sent to prison for holding a gun on a pregnant woman while she was raped. Three years ago today, he was found dead of a drug overdose in a Bronx motel room. It was the 27th anniversary of his confrontation on the subway. Read more: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/12/22/bernard_goetzs_subway_gunshots_echo_still_125034.html#ixzz3MlgfpbYT Follow us: @RCP_Articles on Twitter Poster Comment: In an apparent attempt at revenge, James Ramseur reported to police that after he left the hospital, two men hired by Goetz kidnapped him at gunpoint, claims that were quickly unraveled as a hoax. A little over a year later, he was sent to prison for holding a gun on a pregnant woman while she was raped. Three years ago today, he was found dead of a drug overdose in a Bronx motel room. It was the 27th anniversary of his confrontation on the subway. Must have been one of Sharpton's.
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#1. To: Dakmar (#0)
If the Kenyan wasn't light in the loafers maybe he could have been one of his. Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends. Paul Craig Roberts "When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it." Frederic Bastiat
When Mr. Goetz was thus pushed to defend himself, I sent him a check to cover the cost of a box of .38's....Never got any reply but didn't need or expect it; I think he probably appreciated the gesture of support.
"The 'uniter' has brought the entire world together - to despise and deride us." Lod - Jake's best pal.
Obama was still working a glory hole for "choom" money back in those days. corruptissima re publica plurimae leges - Tacitus
He might have been working for jenkem too. ahahaa.
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends. Paul Craig Roberts "When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it." Frederic Bastiat
Good on you, Bub. I didn't have two nickles to rub together back in '84, glad someone like you did. corruptissima re publica plurimae leges - Tacitus
I've had jobs with s**t wages, but that's a different matter altogether. corruptissima re publica plurimae leges - Tacitus
Somebody had a picture on here the other day with the Kenyan holding a flask of what purported to be "the real jenkem." It was funny.
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends. Paul Craig Roberts "When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it." Frederic Bastiat
Sweet! “The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
Goetz came here in the hills, bought or rented a home. No one local knew or cared but the hounds in NYC found out, so he stayed in NY.
Most curious. Why would anyone care? “The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
SPLC types is my guess, aka Social Justice Warriors. corruptissima re publica plurimae leges - Tacitus
Bernie Goetz was supposed to die in that squalid subway. He resisted and prevailed and for that he became a pariah for his time.
Must have been one of Sharpton's.
#2. To: Dakmar (#0)
#3. To: James Deffenbach (#1)
If the Kenyan wasn't light in the loafers maybe he could have been one of his.
#4. To: Dakmar (#3)
#5. To: Bub (#2)
When Mr. Goetz was thus pushed to defend himself, I sent him a check to cover the cost of a box of .38's....Never got any reply but didn't need or expect it; I think he probably appreciated the gesture of support.
#6. To: James Deffenbach (#4)
(Edited)
He might have been working for jenkem too.
#7. To: Dakmar (#6)
#8. To: Bub (#2)
When Mr. Goetz was thus pushed to defend himself, I sent him a check to cover the cost of a box of .38's
#9. To: Lod (#8)
#10. To: Cynicom (#9)
#11. To: Lod, Cynicom (#10)
(Edited)
Why would anyone care?
#12. To: Dakmar (#0)
-Alex Kurtagic
#13. To: Lod (#10)
Rephrase...Few people here read NY papers. Who was Goetz? They did not know or care. We is hill billies here. NY media knew where he was going, some how, some way. Why would anyone care?
#14. To: X-15 (#12)
Yeah, he must have been wearing a new pair of Chuck Taylor All-Stars, the bastard. Bernie Goetz was supposed to die in that squalid subway.
corruptissima re publica plurimae leges - Tacitus
#15. To: Dakmar (#0)
White guy shoots a lot. Goetz
#16. To: Dakmar (#0)
If I was on the jury, he would not have been convicted of the guy charge. The 2nd gives him the right to be armed and even if it didn't, he has every right to protect himself since the law does not. he was convicted only of the gun charge.
#17. To: X-15 (#12)
Bernie Bam Bam Bam Goetz. Hard to believe it was thirty years ago. He did what he should have done and was crucified for it.
#18. To: Fred Mertz (#17)
I never rode the NYC subways. Always surface transportation, so I could run if need be. Hell of a way to live.
#19. To: Cynicom (#18)
I've ridden the subways a number of times as a youthful visitor, not a commuter. Vivid memory - I had my $1.39 burger and fries in Grand Central Station circa 1970, NYC. Some guy gets his burger, pours on catsup/ketchup from the glass bottle...and...then...licks...it, the top of the bottle, and puts the cap back on. Some things like that stick in my mind.
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