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“Subway Vigilante” or “Bigot?” Revisiting the 1984 Bernhard Goetz Shooting

Season 2026 Episode 8090 | 17m 49s

In 1984, in a New York subway car, Bernie Goetz opened fire on four black teenagers who he claimed were trying to rob him. At a time when fears of rising crime were rife, some saw Goetz as a hometown hero while others condemned him for what they saw as an act of racial violence. Former federal prosecutor Elliot Williams re-examines this case in his new book "Five Bullets."

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