Whatever Happened to …

0 Comments | Insight on the News, August 13, 2001

Bernard Goetz, the "Subway Gunman"? Well, he's running for mayor of New York City. Goetz, now a crusading vegetarian, was acquitted of shooting four black teen-agers who he said tried to mug him in an incident 17 years ago.

Celebrated by conservatives and condemned by liberals, Goetz served six months in jail for carrying an unlicensed gun. One of the teen-agers paralyzed in the shooting later won a $45 million judgement against Goetz, who then declared bankruptcy.

According to the Washington Times, Goetz now believes that vigilante actions such as his would be unnecessary if people would stop eating red meat. Had he not been a meat-eater at the time of the mugging, there would have been no shooting, he claims, citing the "good karma" attached to vegetarianism.

Goetz says he is a conservative and would like to keep the current administration of Mayor Rudy Giuliani in place. He'd even offer Giuliani a job as his right-hand man. "He could write his own ticket," Goetz told Liz Trotta of the Times. More undoubtedly will be heard of the eccentric and vitriolic candidate who says AIDS "is a tremendous help in getting rid of the crappiest elements of society."