Reactions to the Verdict

“All of them whites, they’d like to see him crawl on the ground. He could have got a better trial in Mississippi.”

--Lee Johnson, an 80-year-old retired construction worker

“I think it’s a waste of time and I’m so glad I’m one of the few people who don’t care. We have the State of the Union tonight and we’re talking about Simpson.”

--Donald Whitehead, a postal worker stopping for a doughnut in South-Central Los Angeles

“It should have happened the first time.”

--Vera Kaprielian, a stockbroker from Redondo Beach dining at Mezzaluna restaurant

“Tonight is finally the reaction everyone wanted to get...I think, hopefully, this will quiet down the community and give us some closure.”

--Mark Sarfate, owner of the Westwood International newsstand across the street from Mezzaluna

“There won’t be no riot about O.J.’s verdict. Everybody’s sick of his problems. We love O.J., but we don’t need O.J. We need jobs.”

--Mitchell Jackson, an unemployed engineer in Simpson’s hometown neighborhood in San Francisco

“We said all along that O.J. Simpson committed these crimes and all we asked...was our day in court, a fair hearing on the issues.”

--Christopher A. Darden, prosecutor in the criminal trial

“The city is extremely quiet.”

--Willie L. Williams, LAPD chief

“I’m sitting with my kids right now.”

--O.J. Simpson