'Twinkie defence' gets killer off cold-blooded murder charges
Former San Francisco council member Dan White was acquitted of the murder of his colleague Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone on May 21, 1979.

In a shocking act of violence, White ruthlessly gunned down Milk and Moscone in their offices.

San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. (Nine Archives)

Just four days after resigning, White attempted to retract his decision.

However, the resignation had already taken effect, and Moscone, influenced by Milk, declined to reinstate him.

Milk held the distinction of being the first openly gay individual to secure a significant political role in the United States.

In a calculated move to bypass security, White entered City Hall through a window, bypassing the metal detectors, and proceeded to assassinate Moscone.

As he ran down a hall, fellow supervisor Dianne Feinstein called out to talk to him, unaware of what he had just done.

“I have something to do first,” White reportedly remarked.

He then went into Milk’s office and asked to speak with him in private.

With the doors closed, White shot White five times.

Feinstein would later find Milk’s body.

November 27
Milk was shot dead by former Supervisor Dan White, who was angry he was not being reappointed to the role he had resigned from two weeks earlier. (Nine Archives)

White’s lawyers successfully argued a chemical imbalance in his brain led to the killings, as illustrated by his increased intake of junk food.

The notorious “Twinkie defence” led to his acquittal of murder and conviction of voluntary manslaughter.

Contrary to popular belief, his lawyers did not argue that his consumption of Twinkies, a popular sweet treat, led to the killing.

He spent just five years in prison before getting parole.

“Dan White has gotten away with murder. It’s as simple as that,” another supervisor said.

The night of White’s conviction, protesters set fire to police cars.

“Make sure you put in the paper that I ate too many Twinkies,” one arsonist told a reporter.

Police retaliated by beating gay men indiscriminately across the city.

A Navy vessel was named after Harvey Milk, a Navy veteran, in 2021.

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