Part 1: A Vigilante is Born

Three days before Christmas, in December of 1984, Bernhard Hugo Goetz, a 37-year-old New Yorker, shot four black teenagers in a subway car, with an unregistered gun. As a result of this polarizing event, two grand jury panels were convened. 

The criminal trial of the People of the State of New York v. Bernhard Goetz debuted on July 8, 1986. It was a media circus. For the first time, the jury viewed an angry Goetz explaining to police why he shot 4 teenagers in a subway car.