Moscone–Milk assassinations
The Moscone-Milk Assassinations took place on Monday, November 27, 1978 when Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated by former Supervisor Dan White in San Francisco City Hall.
Preceding events
Dan White was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1977, following the implementation of a district elections system in San Francisco. White had been a firefighter and was serving as a police officer at the time of his election. At the time, the San Francisco city charter prevented anyone from holding two city jobs at once. As a result, White resigned from the San Francisco Police Department. White soon found that his $12,000 a year salary as a supervisor was not enough to support a growing family and a faltering restaurant business. White also had difficulty passing bills, often clashing with Supervisors Harvey Milk and Carol Ruth Silver. These differences came to a head when White was the only Supervisor to vote against passage of the San Francisco gay rights ordinance. On November 10, 1978, White resigned from the Board of Supervisors.
White's resignation allowed Mayor Moscone to appoint a replacement. White's vote on the Board had given the pro-growth faction a majority on the Board. Moscone's appointee could swing control the more neighborhood-oriented approach favored by the Mayor. Many businesses developers realized this and began to lobby White to ask for his seat back. White, initially hesitant, relented and began to publicly lobby the mayor to appoint him to his old seat. Moscone was initially disposed to appoint White, but many city progressives, including Milk, Silver and Willie Brown urged the Mayor against such an action. In the end, Moscone chose progressive Federal Housing official Don Horanzy as White's replacement.
Assassinations
Moscone was set to announce Horanzy's appointment at 11:30 AM on November 27th. He had been meeting all morning with his friend and political ally Willie Brown. Harvey Milk was in his office across City Hall in the Supervisor's wing. Dan White learned he had been skipped over for appointment late the previous night when asked for comment by a CBS reporter. White packed his police special revolver that morning along with several exploding tip bullets and had an unwitting friend drive him to City Hall. White entered through a basement window to avoid the metal detectors at the main entrance.
Moscone's Assassination
White went through the rotunda to Moscone's office and requested a meeting with the Mayor. Moscone granted White's request and the two men began what devolved into a heated discussion over Horanzy's appointment. Wishing to avoid a public scene, Moscone ushered White into a private back office. Realizing his pleas would prove ineffective, White drew his pistol and shot Moscone two times in the abdomen and twice in the head. The mayor died instantly.
Milk's Assassination
White then made his way to the Supervisor's wing of city hall. On his way, he encountered Board President Dianne Feinstein, shirking off her attempts at conversation. White went to Harvey Milk's offce, and asked for a private conference. Behind closed doors, Milk and White began to argue. White drew his gun and shot Milk three times in the back and twice in the head. White then returned back through the rotunda and left City Hall. At about the same time, Deputy Mayor Rudy Nothenberg had discovered Mayor Moscone's body and alerted city hall police. Milk's body was found by Dianne Feinstein just a short time later. Following a short period of disorder, Feinstein, flanked by Police Chief Charles Gain, announced that both Moscone and Milk had been killed and that the suspect was former Supervisor Dan White. White fled to nearby St Mary's Cathedral where he had arranged to meet his wife, Mary Ann. White confessed to his wife and she urged him to turn himself in. Just an hour later, White surrendered to authorities at the Northern Police Station where he had worked.
Aftermath
Moscone and Milk both laid in state at San Francisco City hall, where thousands of San Francicans filed past to pay their respects. Moscone's funeral at St Mary's Cathedral was attended by 4,500 people. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma. Milk was cremated and his ashes were spread across the Pacific Ocean. White was tried for first degree, special circumstance murder, which carries the death penalty in California. White's defense team claimed that he was depressed and that this was evidenced by his eating of unhealthy foods, including Twinkies. This would give rise to the legal term twinkie defense. White was found guilty of the lesser charges of voluntary manslaughter. Many in the gay community were outraged and the verdict sparked the White Night Riots. Dan White was paroled in 1984. White was never able to return to a normal life and committed suicide a little over a year later, in 1985. Dianne Feinstein, as city council president, succeeded to the Mayor's office. Today, Moscone and Milk are remembered for their roles in the gay rights movement and for standing for average San Franciscans.