Got Juice?
The Maundy Monday Newsletter - This Week in History June 17 - 23.
Happy Day after Father’s Day, friends! I hope all the fathers had a fun time. Although I’m not a dad, I enjoyed the weekend with my in-laws, and we did a lot of walking.
Anonymous, her family, and I are expert walkers. We can vary the pace, but on Sunday, we walked at the pace of a slow-moving car, which coincidentally leads us to this week’s main lesson.
On June 17, 1994, Orenthal James Simpson led the California Highway Patrol on a low-speed chase on the 405 Speedway in Los Angeles. Four days earlier, Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend, Ron Goldman, were viciously murdered outside of Brown’s condo. Simpson, who lived close by and had a history of physically assaulting Brown over the years, became the prime suspect.
Instead of turning himself in, Simpson jumped in the back of a 1993 white Ford Bronco driven by his friend AJ Cowling. Simpson supposedly held a gun to his head, threatening to kill himself if he didn’t return to his Brentwood home. The police increased the number of cars that followed, and 95 million Americans witnessed the spectacle on live television of the Bronco going about 30 miles per hour.
Nothing says you are innocent of killing your ex-wife, then driving around at slow speeds, threatening to kill yourself.
Cowling and Simpson eventually returned to Simpson’s home, where police arrested both men. The murder trial of OJ Simpson began and would spill over into 1995.
I remember where I was when the Bronco chase occurred and the verdict. The racial divide was prevalent in the college cafeteria that day when news broke of the jury’s decision. I wonder how many people who thought OJ was innocent have changed their tune over the past 30 years. Or vice versa.
Simspon fell into other legal troubles over the years, including robbing and kidnapping people in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2008. He was convicted and sentenced to 33 years in prison, where he used his athletic skills to be a gym janitor. Just like the San Fransisco 49ers, the prison released him in 2021.
In case you forgot, Simpson was diagnosed with prostate cancer and died from the disease this past April at the age of 76.
Okay, let's highlight what else happened this week. As a reminder, these events celebrate their anniversary, ending in 5 or 0. Here's what I got:
1. The Communications Act was signed into law on June 19, 1934. FDR signed a law that would regulate interstate and foreign communication. In 1949, it mandated the Fairness Doctrine, a policy that forced broadcasters to present controversial issues from both sides. The FCC eliminated it in 1987. Rush Limbaugh signed a nationwide radio talk show contract in 1988.
2. Three Civil Rights activists were killed on June 21, 1964. James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were murdered by Klu Klux Klan members in Philadelphia, MS, for organizing voter registrations. I first learned of this story by watching the movie Mississippi Buring in the late 1980s.
3. The United States Supreme Court ruled flag burning was okay on June 21, 1989. The Court’s 5-4 decision in Texas vs. Johnson protected the practice of burning the American flag under the First and Greatest Amendment to the Constitution. If you look at the ruling, Scalia and Kennedy voted in the majority, while John P. Stevens dissented. I wasn’t expecting that.
It’s been hot here in DC for the past week, and we expect it to get even hotter. Blue moves at a snail's pace in this stuff, and I expect him to increase his demands that I take him home immediately, or he might perish out on a sidewalk. Happy summer to all the long-haired dogs out there.
Thanks for your support of Okay History. I’ll see you on Friday for another presidential ranking. Everyone’s doing a great job as we move through this massive initiative. I hope you are enjoying it!
Have a great week!
Okay,
Chris
