It has been just over fifteen years since, on October 3, 1995, a Los Angeles jury, after a trial lasting more than eight months, acquitted Orenthal James Simpson of double murder, after very short deliberations. A photo taken at the moment the verdict was announced was published in every country in the world that had media facilities. Depending on one’s race, in many instances, cheers or groans erupted. In the days that followed, a backlash against the verdict and Simpson began to swell among the majority, with redneck types shouting the loudest. Never in my experience has a summarily acquitted defendant been the subject of such anger and derision. Never before in my experience has a racist cop been forced to plead guilty to perjury during a murder trial, only to have his wrist lightly slapped (you’ve been a bad boy...) and go on to become a folk hero and sometime author to the redneck community...
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