Bernard Goetz's Subway Gunshots Echo Still
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.
9 comments:
The money shot in this story, which is at least modestly biased against self defense:
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 this is how it's done.
Forget the permission slip. Forget begging for permission, you do not need it and are immune from prosecution for refusal. If the police go all pOlice on you, then you exercise your right to defend yourself - via other rights----trial by jury, speech assembly etcetcetc.
The moment you DO submit to the permission slip then they got ya. You "agreed willingly" to the "contract" or so you will be told.
Some tell me I'll end up in jail because I refuse to bow. To them I say this - if that's the way its gonna be then I guess that's how it's gonna be. I would be a political prisoner in that event - no different than were I jailed for daring to speak freely or assemble. Regardless, I'll still be a FREEMAN, even if kidnapped and put behind bars.
I'm not going to be threatened into going unarmed and get caught slippin' by some punks as a result and wind up dead. Nope. I'll be prepared to defend myself and my family in spite of gubmints demand that I be a sitting duck for the criminal element.
Let's this mans tale be your guide. Go armed and live. Beg for permission, be denied and give up? You end up dead.
Avoid the legal nets
That entangled Bernie Goetz
Just shout "Help! Help! Police!"
Like Kitty Genovese.
For a while you could belly up to a New York City bar and order a "Goetz"- a screwdriver cocktail with five shots of vodka.
The thought that defending yourself from a crime is a crime is absurd. I agree with Michael 7:53 - not only would his sentence be longer but a civil suit would also be a foregone conclusion.
Goetz made
two mistakes, he did not kill his attackers and he turned himself in.
i remember when this happened like it was yesterday. Could tell you where I was when I heard it on the news. i started clapping and gave a rebel yell. I felt it was a great day for people that wanted to defend themselves...And yes, he should have made better shots and just walked out of there like nothing happened. No one would have searched too long for the shooter..
With the civil suit, that "Give me five dollars" became "Give me forty three million dollars". Didn't happen either time.
Agree with Anonymous December 22, 2014 at 8:52 PM, except the notion of allowing oneself to be arrested for an innocent action. That is a form of submission. Free people do not submit.
As to the article, "Violent crime that takes the lives of the innocent, regardless of whether they are in uniform..."
Police are a lot of things, but the word "innocent" somehow does not come to mind when thinking of them. For one thing, Goetz was arrested by a policeman. This amounts to a kidnapping, among normal people.
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