O.J Simpson Dead at 76: The Trial's Impact On America

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Stranded sailors miracle rescue; FBI Chief warns of terrorist threats

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Photo of the “HELP” sign. Via: US Coast Guard.

Good morning,

It’s IRL ‘Cast Away.’ A group of three experienced sailors, going fishing on March 31, got caught in large waves. A damaged motor and dead radio battery left them stranded 100 miles from home, on the uninhabited, remote Pikelot Atoll, part of Micronesia.

  • For context on how remote this island is: Micronesia is made up of just over 600 islands (many uninhabited) scattered across about 1 million square miles of ocean.

  • It took a week for their relatives to report them missing. The US Coast Guard started their search by air, and thanks to a “HELP” sign made out of palm leaves were able to spot them.

  • The men lived off coconut meat and fresh water from a small well on the island, which is very remote, but visited by fishermen.

Craziest part: This happened before! Another group of three was found in 2020 with an “SOS” message on the beach.

Be sure to rewatch ‘Cast Away’ and ‘Gilligan’s Island’ before your next sea adventure.

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

🚓 OJ SIMPSON DEAD AT 76: A MAN WHO DIVIDED AMERICA

 
 

O.J. Simpson, whose murder trial became a landmark moment in American racial, criminal justice and celebrity history, died Thursday. Simpson, 76, had reportedly been battling prostate cancer, and had recently been placed in hospice care.

  • There was O.J. before June 1994: A sports hero, popular TV spokesman for brands like Hertz, an actor and sports commentator. He tried to appeal to everyone, and was known to say, “I’m not Black, I’m O.J.”

  • Then, on June 12, 1994 his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman are murdered. Five days later, he is arrested after the infamous car chase (he had written a suicide note and was trying to escape to Mexico). O.J. immediately becomes one of the most controversial figures in the country, as he goes on trial and is then acquitted of the murders in 1995, outraging many Americans.

  • In 1997, he was found liable for their deaths in a civil trial, and ordered to pay tens of millions of dollars to the Brown and Goldman families. He didn’t end up paying much. Goldman’s father reacted Thursday that Simpson’s death was “no great loss to the world.”

  • Simpson would later serve nine years in a Nevada prison for a different crime—a kidnapping and armed robbery that took place in 2007 having to do with some of his sports memorabilia.

THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY
It’s hard to overstate the impact Simpson and his murder trial had on the media industry, pop culture and American society.

  • It started with wall-to-wall coverage of the white Bronco chase in June 1994, one of the most-watched events in TV history, with 95 million people tuning in. NBC actually cut into their NBA finals game coverage to show the chase.

  • Tens of millions watched daily coverage of the trial. An estimated 150 million people watched the not guilty verdict—that surpasses Super Bowl audiences.

  • It created stars out of Johnnie Cochran, Greta Van Susteren, the Kardashians, Mark Fuhrman, Judge Lance Ito, Alan Dershowitz, Marcia Clark, Kato Kaelin, and Nancy Grace, among others.

REACTIONS SHOW RACIAL DIVIDE
The trial and reactions to Simpson’s acquittal further exposed racial divisions in the country.

  • For many, it was the first introduction to DNA evidence. While Simpson’s blood was linked to the crime scene, the technology was still new and untrusted at the time. Core to O.J.’s defense was that he had been framed by the LAPD and racist officers like Mark Fuhrman—who was accused of planting evidence.

    • It came just a couple years after several LAPD officers were caught beating a Black man, Rodney King, and were acquitted—leading to the LA riots.

  • While the reaction to the verdict was very much depicted along racial lines (Black Americans cheered and White Americans were disappointed), University of San Francisco professor James Lance Taylor says it was a bit more complicated.

    • “The truth is many millions of Black people thought (he) was probably guilty. There was just so much wrapped up in the O.J. case that was connected to the Black experience in America. O.J. was just an extension of the polarization between Black America and law enforcement.”

    • In 2016, more than 20 years after the trial, a racial divide remained in polling. Asked whether Simpson committed murder, 73% of whites said yes, 67% of Hispanics said yes, and 44% of African Americans said yes.

🚨 FBI DIRECTOR WARNS CONGRESS OF POTENTIAL US ATTACKS OVER 🇷🇺 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 🇵🇸 WARS

FBI Director Christopher Wray went to Capitol Hill yesterday to warn Congress that American’s safety is at risk with proposed budget cuts, and potential changes to the way the FBI is allowed to surveil foreign terrorist threats.

He says “this could not come at a worst time” as threats abound —from ISIS and extremist groups in the Middle East to cartels that smuggle fentanyl to Chinese cyber attacks.

WHAT’S THE ISSUE
While Wray warned that he has never seen “so many threats to our public safety and national security” at this level all at once, he says, “it is not a time for panic, it is time for heightened vigilance.” The FBI is facing millions of dollars of budget cuts, and he says that will make the bureau’s job harder as it combats threats like ISIS-K—which recently conducted a successful attack in Russia.

  • The other issue at hand: Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is set to expire next Friday, and needs to be renewed by Congress. It allows the FBI to collect, without a warrant, communications (emails, calls, text, etc.) by non-Americans suspected of terrorism abroad.

    • The concern is that Americans sometimes get caught in the web if they are in touch with the foreigners under surveillance. But Wray says that’s part of the point. If someone in the US is messaging a terrorist abroad, the FBI needs to be able to thwart a possible attack. And, getting a warrant can take too long.

  • Pushback: Lawmakers on the right and left have been pushing back on the scope of the law, alongside advocacy groups, like the ACLU, who say the law needs to be reigned-in.

The latest version of Section 702 up for renewal would require a warrant to review information on Americans collected when they communicate with foreigners who are being surveilled. But it doesn’t go far enough for some.

THE POLITICS OF IT
Former President Trump jumped into the debate, urging GOP House members to "Kill FISA." He claims that HE was targeted by the law in 2016.

  • SOME HISTORY: The FBI was monitoring a Trump campaign aide, Carter Page, and his communications with Russians over what turned out to be a faulty dossier.

    • 702 was NOT used; it was a different part of FISA.

    • In 2018, Trump actually signed a six-year renewal of Section 702. At the time, he said it was “NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election.”

    • Trump’s former Attorney General, Bill Barr, says Trump’s new position is “absolutely wrong.”

On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson tried to move forward with a preliminary vote in order to bring an actual vote to reauthorize FISA to the floor. It failed when 19 hard right Republicans voted it down. Johnson is set to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago today to discuss the election, but surely FISA will be on the agenda as well.

 

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Tornadoes and life-threatening flooding hit Florida. More dangerous storms are in the forecast (CNN)

📌 Biden administration to close 'gun show loophole' (ABC NEWS)

📌 Former Virginia school administrator charged after 6-year-old shot teacher (NBC NEWS)

📌 Latino support for border wall, deportations jumps (AXIOS)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Iranian attack on Israel expected in next 48 hours (WSJ)

📌 Russian airstrikes destroy Kyiv’s largest power plant (CNN)

📌 Vietnamese property tycoon sentenced to death in $12.5 billion fraud case (CNBC)

📌 Posthumous memoir by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to be published (NBC NEWS)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 Drug shortages reach all-time high (AXIOS)

📌 Meta to blur Instagram messages containing nudity in latest move for teen safety (REUTERS)

📌 CDC investigating several cases of illnesses from Botox injections (GUARDIAN)

📌 San Francisco's train system still uses floppy disks—and will for years (WIRED)

📌 Recent increase in measles cases threatens elimination status in the US, CDC says (CNN)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 JK Rowling says 'Harry Potter' stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson who criticized her trans views can 'save their apologies' (FOX NEWS)

📌 First look at the Donald Trump movie ‘The Apprentice,’ set to premiere at Cannes (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)

📌 Kendrick Lamar teams with ‘South Park’ creators for new movie musical (THE WRAP)

📌 NEW DETAILS: Former Ohtani interpreter Mizuhara faces federal charge after allegedly stealing $16 million from the baseball superstar (CNN)

🎉 CHEERS TO THE FREAKIN WEEKEND

Guest User
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