Your Thoughts…(when asked about vigilantism and society)

BAD - 12

Puts people in dangerDepends on the situationOnly if violentDoesn’t stop crime

Good – 11

As long as they have good moralsNonviolentBrings hope

Vigilantism – good or bad for society?

Def: One who takes or advocates the taking of law enforcement into one's own hands

We just got done thinking about Batman…What about Bernhard Goetz (Getz)?

• Nickname: The Subway Vigilante

Background• Living in New York City

– Dismayed at what he viewed as the “crumbling social structure of the city”

– Pushed hard for city officials to clean up his neighborhood

- Then – he was attacked by three African-American teenagers at a subway station threw him through plate glass window - escaped with knee (permanent) and chest injury 2 out of the 3 assailants escaped – other spent a few hours at police station

Goetz was FURIOUS and applied for a gun permit - application was denied for insufficient need

Bought a gun anyway – said he refused to be a victim again

Approx. 3 years later…

• Goetz entered a Manhattan subway train (carrying unlicensed .38 caliber revolver)

– Also on the train were 4 teenagers• Other passengers had moved away from teens

– Witnesses say: Goetz took his seat and then young men approached him for $5

– Goetz refused one boy responded “Give me you money.”

• Goetz suspected he was going to get mugged again so he stood up and said…

YOU ALL CAN HAVE IT

.Goetz started firing his revolver 5 times wounded all 4 teens

Train came to stopConductor asks if he is a cop

“No…I don't know why I did it. They tried to rip me off." – Goetz fled the city (New England)

8 days later – he turned himself in*found out police looking for him

-neighbor called the NYPD saying description matched Goetz

Goetz returned to a different New York than the one he had just fled…

• New Yorkers were tired of the crime that had gripped their home…

• Violent crime had risen sharply in the previous two decades, so that a person was five times as likely to be a victim of violent crime in 1985 as in 1960

• Vaulted Goetz to HERO STATUS– Even Joan Rivers sent him a telegram (“hugs and kisses”

and said she would help him out with bail)Goetz wanted none of it – “I want to remain anonymous” he told the New

York Post

However, one of the few public figures to criticize the shooting was New York

Mayor Ed Koch who, two days after the story broke, labeled the action "animal behavior" and said "a vigilante is not a

hero."

"Finally," many a New Yorker said, "someone has had the courage to

stand up to these thugs."

TrialWas acquitted (To free or clear from a charge or accusation)

of attempted murder

• In deciding whether Goetz had acted criminally, the jury based its conclusion on what a "reasonable person" would have done under the circumstances.

In their view Goetz had acted reasonably, especially since he had been mugged before.

The jurors seemed indifferent to the prosecution's contention that Goetz had gone to the subway that day in search of trouble.

-using ammo that was to inflict MAXIMUM damageAmong other incriminating statements, Goetz told detectives that after perceiving a threat, "I decided to kill them after all, murder them all, do anything."

From the Scenario,

where were two of the

teens shot at?(Front or Back)

Trial con’t• Was found guilty of illegal firearms

possession (served 8 months out of 1 year)– However some called for accountability

(racist) - complained if Goetz had been black and his victims white the trial result would have been altogether different. But, as Time correspondent Otto Friedrich pointed out, a black 39-year-old named Austin Weeks had shot one of two white teenagers who hurled racial insults at him in a Brooklyn subway a few years earlier, and though Weeks had remained a fugitive for six years, a grand jury refused to indict him.

Refused to stay on the sidelines (social issues)Became more vocal about problems facing the city

1) Pushed all civilians to arm themselves2) 2 small films; TV and radio appearances3) Opened new store – Vigilante Electronics4) Pushed for legalization of marijuana5) Ran for mayor’s office6) Told one reporter that one of the attacker’s (Darrell

Cabey) mother would have been better off if she would have had an abortion

*he had been paralyzed during shooting

HOWEVER … "You don't look too bad, here's another," and shot Cabey a second time. "If you're injured, paralyzed or whatever while committing a violent crime against

me, that's not my fault."Civil Suit against Goetz – Jury found in favor of Cabey for $43 million

Goetz declared bankruptcy

Follow-up• Goetz living in New York City • He is an advocate for vegetarianism and the serving of

vegetarian lunches in the New York City public school system.

• He sells and services electronic test equipment through his company Vigilante Electronics.

• Also involved with squirrel rescue in New York.– He installs squirrel houses, feeds squirrels, and performs

first aid.

In the 2002 film Every Move You Make, Goetz played a criminalist who teaches a female stalking victim how to use a concealed-carry weapon.

In a 2004 interview with CNN• Reporter: "Do you ever wish you had just given

them $5?" • Goetz : "I think it would have been the better thing

for me, in my life, if I had just given them all my money, even though they might have pushed me around and beat me up for a second." – But Goetz then added, "But I think it was good for New

York City. What happened was very good for New York City because it forced them to address crime."

Keeping this case in mind…and the others you read as

you prepare for your debate