San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to a major public office in California, were assassinated.
Former Board of Supervisors member Dan White stormed into City Hall with a .38-caliber revolver, firing upon the mayor first before reloading and turning his gun on rival Milk. Future California Sen. and then-Supervisor Dianne Feinstein was the first to find Milk’s body. While Milk had become an icon in San Francisco and “a martyr for gay rights,” White had recently quit his job as supervisor, but wanted his position back. Moscone refused to reappoint him.
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White was caught and gave a “diminished capacity” defense, claiming that junk food, combined with distress over the loss of his job, caused him to suffer mental problems. The so-called “Twinkie Defense” succeeded, and White was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter in 1979 rather than murder. White got a five-year prison sentence. After his release, he was unable to resume a normal life, and committed suicide in 1986.
