May 21, 1979: The "White Night" Riot

May 21, 1979: In San Francisco, former Supervisor (City Councilman) Dan White is sentenced to 7 years in prison for assassinating Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in their offices at City Hall 6 months earlier.

There was no question as to his guilt, but, according to psychiatrist Martin Blinder, his change in diet was considered a mitigating factor. Ever since, a lame excuse for a crime has become known as a "Twinkie Defense" in his (dis)honor. California State law was amended to put an end to such defenses.

Gay activists, outraged that the murderer of a tolerant Mayor and the country's 1st openly gay elected official got only 7 years, rioted. It became known as the White Night Riot. No one was killed, but there were 140 injuries.

White was released after only 5½ years. He was unable to rebuild his life – no one in San Francisco, including his wife, wanted anything to do with him – and committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning on October 21, 1985. He was 39, and as far as I know, he remains the only American politician ever to go to prison for killing another American politician.

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May 21, 1979 was a Monday. The Stanley Cup was awarded that night, and I have a separate entry for that event: The Montreal Canadiens won Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals, beating the New York Rangers, 4-1 at the Montreal Forum. It was their 4th straight Cup. It was also the last game for goaltender Ken Dryden and center Jacques Lemaire, as they retired. So did right wing and former Captain Yvan Cournoyer, who had missed most of the season with a back injury.

The NBA Finals were between Games 1 and 2. The Seattle SuperSonics went on to reverse the result of the previous year's Finals, beating the Washington Bullets in 5 games. Football was out of season. And these 8 Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 3-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Jack Billingham outpitched Ron Guidry. Lance Parrish hit a home run. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 4-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Willie Stargell hit a home run, which was not surprising. Omar Moreno and Ed Ott also hit home runs for the Pirates, which was surprising.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Steve Carlton outpitched John Denny, who would later win a Cy Young Award with the Phillies. Mike Schmidt hit a home run. Pete Rose went 3-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 7-5 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-1 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals, 12-7 at Royals Stadium (later Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers, 7-6 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* And the San Diego Padres beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and San Diego Stadium).