The Bernard Goetz Shootings

Bernie Goetz is a vigilante that shot 4 black male youths in 1984. The victims asked Goetz for five dollars to play video games and Goetz accepted. He stated he would give them each five dollars and proceeded to shoot all four, leaving one paralyzed for life. Goetz was eventually caught and later went on trial, receiving 1 year of prison and serving eight months.

He lost a civil case against him by one of the victims, but failed to pay a 'single penny' after filing for bankruptcy even when the judge stated he had to pay. W Regarding how society viewed him at the time. There were three camps. The first supported his actions, believing he was in danger of being beaten and robbed. The second believed the victims, thinking they just wanted to panhandle to play video games. The third believed Goetz, but saw his actions as extreme.

The ones that supported his actions did so because they felt 'tantalized' that a vigilante was able to get justice in a world full of crime. "The idea that a vigilante is on the loose, that a real live 'death wish' killer is abroad, tantalizes both public and media. People read the stories avidly, turn on the television news eagerly." (Rubin 5-6) Regardless of who was believed, the story was a hit with audiences. "The public is mesmerized by this startling turn of events.

Imagine! A man who resisted the muggers and got away with it. Nothing else matter; nothing else is noticed- not dumdum bullets, not that two people were shot in the back, not even that one is paralyzed for life." (Rubin 7) They did not care who did what. They simply enjoyed the 'story'. They felt, it seems, as though the premise was exciting and the outcome did not matter. Unfortunately to those that it did matter, the victims, justice was not served for them.

One of the victims, James Ramseur, committed suicide. "James Ramseur, 45, was found dead of an apparent overdose at 11:30 a.m. yesterday at the Paradise Hotel at 2990 Boston Road, law-enforcement sources said last night." (Saul) He and the other victims came out of the crime without any compensation. They were also made out by some to be nothing more than criminals that deserved the shooting. Even today, some hail Goetz as a hero. 2. Because of the 'Black Lives Matter' movement, things would have been much different.

The movement sparked interest in the increasing crime against blacks in America. Especially with technology and smart phone use, most likely someone would have caught it on camera. Then that would have sparked outrage, similar to the police shootings that have occurred in the last few years. 3. One interesting thing to note was his childhood. He grew up not in the city, but upstate. He was married then divorced and had to start over again in his apartment in Greenwich, NYC.

Running an electronics business from his own apartment, he was not exactly, 'doing well'. Alone and seemingly falling on hard times economically, it seemed like a stark contrast from his days in upstate NY and his time in Switzerland going to school. His inexperience with city life perhaps made him more paranoid and that fact that he was alone and seemingly without much money, created further paranoid and an increased need to protect himself. 4.

A noteworthy vigilante case that perhaps built the foundation of the Black Lives Matter movement was the Trayvon Martin shooting. George Zimmerman saw a young, black male in the neighborhood he was watching and shot him. The boy died and Zimmerman faced backlash for his actions. However, he was later acquitted on July 13, 2013 on all counts, receiving a not guilty verdict after 16 hours of deliberations by the jury. Unlike Goetz, Zimmerman was able to get the jury to clear him of all charges.

(Fasching-Varner, et al.) However, similar to Goetz, he was not believed by the jury to have attempted murder. In fact, Goetz was only charged after the criminal trial, with possession of an illegal firearm. Had Zimmerman had an illegal firearm, he would have had a similar outcome to Goetz. Because Zimmerman had a positive outcome, it shows that the jury and the laws of Florida, supported his act of 'justice'. If one looks back in history, many whites have killed blacks and were seemingly 'justified' for their actions.

Although Zimmerman is half Peruvian, many saw him as a white male who did his job to protect the neighborhood he watched. The main difference of the two cases however, is.