Moscone–Milk assassinations
On November 27, 1978, George Moscone, the mayor of San Francisco, and Harvey Milk, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, were shot and killed inside City Hall by former Supervisor Dan White. On the morning of that day, Moscone intended to announce that the Supervisor position from which White had previously resigned would be given to someone else. White, angered, entered City Hall before the scheduled announcement and first shot Moscone in the Mayor's office, then Milk in White's former office space, before escaping the building. Board of Supervisors President Dianne Feinstein first announced Moscone and Milk's deaths to the media, and because of Moscone's death, succeeded him as acting mayor.
| Moscone–Milk assassinations | |
|---|---|
| Part of violence against LGBT people in the United States | |
San Francisco Chronicle's front page for November 28, 1978 | |
City Hall Moscone–Milk assassinations (San Francisco) | |
| Location | City Hall, San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 37°46′45″N 122°25′10″W |
| Date | November 27, 1978 10:45 a.m. – 10:55 a.m. (PST) |
| Target | George Moscone, Harvey Milk |
Attack type | Assassination, spree shooting |
| Weapons | .38-caliber Smith & Wesson Model 36 Chief's Special |
| Victims | George Moscone and Harvey Milk (both killed) |
| Perpetrator | Dan White |
| Verdict | Guilty on the lesser offenses of voluntary manslaughter |
| Convictions | Voluntary manslaughter (2 counts) |
| Charges | First-degree murder with special circumstances (2 counts) |
| Sentence | 7 years and 8 months in prison (paroled after 5 years) |
White was charged with first-degree murder with circumstances that made him eligible for the death penalty. However, on May 21, 1979, White was convicted of the lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment, which resulted in the White Night riots and the abolition of the diminished capacity criminal defense in California. The trial also led to the urban legend of the "Twinkie defense", as many media reports had incorrectly described the defense as having attributed White's diminished capacity to the effects of sugar-laden junk food. White committed suicide in 1985, a year and a half after his release from prison.
Feinstein was elected by the Board of Supervisors to become the first female mayor of San Francisco on December 4, 1978, a title she would hold for the next ten years. She eventually became a United States Senator for California until her death in 2023.