Dan White shot and killed Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk on November 27, 1978. White was angry that Moscone had refused to reappoint him to his seat on the Board of Supervisors. He committed suicide in 1985, a little more than a year after his release from prison. He was subsequently convicted of voluntary manslaughter, rather than first-degree murder.
About Moscone–Milk assassinations in brief
Dan White shot and killed Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk on November 27, 1978. White was angry that Moscone had refused to reappoint him to his seat on the Board of Supervisors, from which he had just resigned. White committed suicide in 1985, a little more than a year after his release from prison. He was subsequently convicted of voluntary manslaughter, rather than first-degree murder. The verdict sparked the \”White Night riots\” in San Francisco, and led to the state of California abolishing the diminished capacity criminal defense. The events helped bring national notice to then-Board President Dianne Feinstein, who became the first female mayor of San Francisco and eventually U.S. Senator for California. White would cast the only vote in opposition to San Francisco’s landmark gay rights ordinance, passed by the Board and signed by Moscone in 1978. Much of Moscone’s agenda of neighborhood revitalization and increased city support programs was thwarted or modified in favor of the business-oriented agenda supported by the pro-growth majority on the board. On November 18, 1978, news broke of the mass deaths of members of Peoples Temple in Jonestown. Most of the dead were recent Bay Area residents, including Leo Ryan, the United States Congressman who was murdered in the incident. The city was plunged into mourning, and the issue of White’s vacant seat was pushed aside for several days.
Moscone ultimately decided to appoint Don Horanzy, a more liberal federal housing official, instead of reappoint White. On the day of the appointment, White had an unsuspecting friend drive him to City Hall, where he was carrying a five-round. 38-caliber Smith & Wesson Model 36 Chief’s Special loaded with hollow-point bullets, his service revolver from his work as a police officer, and ten extra rounds of ammunition in his coat pocket. White slipped into City Hall through a first floor window, avoiding the metal detectors. He proceeded to the mayor’s office, where Moscone was conferring with Willie Brown. As White entered the outer office, Brown requested a meeting with him and was permitted to meet with the mayor. White requested again to be reappointed to his former seat. He then pulled out a revolver and shot Moscone at the shoulder and chest, tearing his lung to the floor and falling to the ground. White’s supporters urged him to rescind his resignation by requesting reappointment from Moscone. Meanwhile, some of the more liberal city leaders, most notably Milk, Silver, and then-California Assemblyman Willie Brown, lobbied Moscone not to reapp appoint White. The mayor would appoint his successor, which alarmed some of city’s business interests and White’s constituents, as it indicated Moscone could appoint a liberal representative for the more conservative district.
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This page is based on the article Moscone–Milk assassinations published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 28, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
