O. J. Simpson’s Chase, Arrest

The freeway pursuit of O.J. Simpson was the most surreal event I’ve ever seen--especially watching the throngs of people who were lined up for miles, waving signs and cheering him on. Like so many other people, I am shocked by this situation and firmly believe that O.J. is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. But if convicted, this guy will be found guilty of crimes that are no less brutal and appalling than anything the Manson family did. And yet literally thousands of people in Southern California thought it appropriate to cheer. DAVID ELLIS

Sherman Oaks

I suspect I’m not alone and others thought as I did as we watched, as if mesmerized, O.J. Simpson’s car, trailed by scores of police vehicles, traverse our too-familiar and suddenly empty freeways toward Simpson’s suicide or arrest. We heard the fugitive/hero held a gun to his head and learned that the driver of the car heading toward an unknown destination was his best friend.

Suddenly, amid this sad and almost classically tragic tale, there was, at last, in the midst of moral confusion, a pure and known definition. As “hero,” “superstar,” “fan” and “voyeur” grew increasingly muddled, the definition of “friend” was affirmed anew: Al Cowlings.

BARBARA WATSON

Los Angeles

Shades of Mack Sennett and the Keystone Cops. The freeway chase scene was hilarious.

JIM MARTIN

Hemet

I certainly hope that the various law enforcement agencies are going to bill and collect from O.J. Simpson the amount that was spent to hunt him down and chase him up the freeway. As a taxpayer, I have no desire to have to pay for all that.

DAVID RYMER PIPER

West Hollywood

A bright, glorious California Sunday morning and we are treated to the front page and additional inside pages of the few details regarding O.J. Simpson that anyone who has been under anesthesia for the last three days may have missed. To give credit where credit is due, there is a small, boxed item on Page 1 mentioning that nuclear holocaust may have once again been postponed for the immediate present with the tentative agreement to a summit meeting between North and South Korea.

Here in the heart of media-land, it’s finally become obvious that the networks and the print media have realized how to get our rapt attention. Forget family programming, forget national sports playoffs, forget cultural events, we want mayhem, live on-the-spot coverage. We want to feel as though we are right there in the midst of whatever horror is taking place, be it earthquake devastation, fire ravages, torrential flooding, or just your basic L.A. miscellaneous crime scene.

There are enough helicopters, mobile camera trucks, newspeople, amateur video cam owners in Southern California that we should be able to have our own all-news station covering what’s happening on the streets of L.A. at every minute, be it ever so gruesome. We want to be part of it; we want to experience every in-depth interview with the grieving family members who are always asked the profound question, “How do you feel?” What an opportunity for programming around the clock! Who needs “60 Minutes” or CNN? In L.A., we want the real thing.

PAMELA A. BOBIT

Anaheim Hills

The publicity we have been giving to the O.J. Simpson case is a sad commentary on our values and character.

For example, take the Sunday edition (June 19). You devoted two-thirds of the front page, and more than five additional full pages to O.J.! By contrast, you devote a space of only a few paragraphs on the front page to the proposed summit meeting between North and South Korea on the nuclear bomb issue. No wonder our country is in trouble!

And speaking of O.J., how does the Los Angeles Police Department explain the preferential treatment it has been giving him? Here is a man they accuse of double murder, and they allow him to “negotiate” his surrender; manage to lose him for eight hours after he escaped; chase him on L.A.’s most busy freeways for two hours on Friday afternoon under nonstop, coast-to-coast, live television coverage, causing terrible inconvenience and aggravation to millions of Los Angeles motorists during this unprecedented chase.

The general tone of all this publicity is to solicit sympathy for this “fallen hero.” Let us not forget who the real victims are in this case. Those that deserve our sympathy are the murdered ex-wife of O.J. and her male friend, their parents, sisters and brothers, and most of all O.J.’s two young children, whose mother he is accused of murdering.

RENO S. ZACK

San Dimas

When did idle speculation rise to the level of front-page headline status (“Simpson’s Peculiar Behavior Could Aid in His Defense,” June 19)?

This is the kind of obvious and trite observation I expect to see on local television news when they need to fill time, not on the front page of a major newspaper. The “legal experts” are entitled to their opinions, but please put them in the proper place; they are not news.

RICHARD A. KURSHNER

Venice

O.J. Simpson, according to his lawyer, was “tearful” because he was separated from his children on Father’s Day (June 20). Crocodile tears, maybe. Can there ever be a time when children need their father more than when their mother has just died? And where was Simpson? Riding around in the back of a Ford Bronco, thinking only of himself.

Almost as disgusting as Simpson were all those people waving and holding signs that read “Go, O.J., Go!” and “We love you, O.J.” Is it possible for a civilized person to be so lacking in self-esteem that he must invest in the deification of a football hero? To these people I say, “Get a life!”

JENNIFER WOOD

Bakersfield

I think the O in O.J. must really stand for Othello.

CAROL L. KAUPER

San Gabriel

There is no justification for the savagely cruel slaying of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman. It is excruciating for the families who have lost their loved ones to be subjected to this fawning by the newscasters over Simpson.

They have lost sight of the victims and the hideous nature of this crime.

HAZEL GURLEY

Garden Grove

Fact: The number of domestic violence cases is reported to be higher on Super Bowl Sunday than on any other day of the year. Worse still, the number of convicted sports heroes is growing large enough to constitute its own team in the NFL.

What can we squeeze out of Juice? Recognition that domestic violence is a problem of public health proportions which afflicts even the most adored and emulated in society.

It is hard to imagine a public service campaign better suited for the national sports associations--including the NFL, the NBA, the NHL and major league baseball--than the war against domestic violence. These organizations must pick up after their fallen stars with time, funds and the public commitment of their players.

Does America really believe it is more important to be a good ball player than a good person? I don’t think so.

RUTH RUBIN MD, M.P.H.

San Francisco

I never realized how much of a hero O.J. Simpson was to me until the murder allegations hit the press (Column One, “Illusion, Reality, and Our Heroes,” June 17). Murder is for street thugs and desperate souls. O.J. is a legendary football star, a media darling, a family member. It can’t be!

Even though I never saw him play in person, I joyfully applauded anytime his face was projected on the Coliseum big screen at USC games. His heroism is deep-rooted. He symbolizes the thrill and excitement of victory.

We believe in heroes like O.J. because we desire joy and happiness. What we fail to see is the heroes’ tendency to crumble beneath the weight of our adoration.

EDDY POLANCO

Los Angeles

It is sickening to hear Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti earn his tough-on-crime brownie points by whipping up public opinion against O.J. Simpson. It seems unethical to me to make any media announcements until this innocent man is proven to be guilty in a court of law.

And, oh the hypocrisy of Garcetti to tell us not to forget the motherless children, when he will not hesitate to do his best to make them fatherless as well, either actually or in effect.

J. K. GLASSER

Van Nuys

Whether it is the story of Michael Jackson, Tonya Harding or O.J. Simpson, the biggest complaints of a “media circus” or a “media feeding frenzy” come from its very perpetrators, i.e., members of the media.

VINO SARDANA

Mission Viejo

Thank you, Al Martinez (“As the Parade Passes By,” June 21). Yours is a voice of reason, crying of a terrible wrong that has been committed.

What has happened to our values? O.J. Simpson is not a great football player who happened to make a mistake, as one young fan stated. He is a convicted, wife-beating adult male accused of double murder, who happened to play a game very well a long time ago.

Tragic, yes; hero, no.

JEAN BRANDT

Encino

O.J. Simpson--enough!!

BOB PENFIELD

Claremont