Long before we knew the names Uvalde, Pulse Nightclub, Parkland, and Sandy Hook, the nation was stunned and horrified by the Long Island Rail Road massacre.
Legacy of the LIRR Massacre."It was among the first large-scale mass shootings in a public place in the modern era, and it came at a time the U.S. was beginning to grapple with a steadily increasing number of deadly rampages.Thirty years ago, on December 7, 1993, a Jamaican-born Brooklyn resident boarded a Long Island-bound commuter train, the 5:33 from Penn Station, armed with a semi-automatic 9mm handgun and more than 100 rounds of ammunition.
Ferguson's handpicked lawyers--William Kunstler and Ronald Kuby--suggested that he was overcome with"Black rage," from his perception he was a chronic victim of racism. Ferguson rejected that insanity defense, and eventually dismissed Kunstler and Kuby. Maintaining his innocence, Ferguson decided to represent himself in what became a highly-watched, televised, bizarre spectacle of a trial at the Nassau County Courthouse, where he cross-examined the very people he had tried to kill.
Ferguson was convicted of the murders on February 17, 1995 and sentenced to 315 years in prison, representing six consecutive life sentences. He was acquitted of hate crime charges. Jurors did not believe he chose his victims according to their race. The victims were white, Asian, Hispanic and Black.
"Down the road," the carnage in our country has only escalated. Mass shootings have only increased since 1993, claiming innocent lives, instilling fear, and impacting our daily lives. We also visited with retired Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband Dennis was shot to death on the train and whose son Kevin was shot in the head and suffered paralysis and brain damage. She emerged as a spokeswoman for the group of victims and became a nine-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, intent on reforming gun laws. Thirty years later, she says,"I couldn't face the families anymore. I just felt it was time for younger people, younger families to step in my footsteps.