A white man’s unsupported fear of Black teens was accepted as valid self-defense

Evidence

In December 1984, on a subway car in New York City, a thirty-seven-year-old white man, Bernhard Goetz, said he feared that he was going to be mugged by four young African Americans who had asked him for a cigarette and tried to bum five dollars. He pulled out his unlicensed gun and fired five bullets, hitting all his targets, leaving one teen paralyzed and with brain damage, and then left the train. When Goetz turned himself in to the police nine days later and the prosecutor charged him with attempted murder, he became a “hero” to many: the “subway vigilante.” He represented the besieged white American who felt threatened by Black people. Indeed, Goetz said he feared for his life, although there was virtually no hard evidence that the teens had tried to attack him before he pulled his gun and fired. Nonetheless, he claimed self-defense. The jury agreed. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 820

Categorization

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