Think Trump wants to be impeached? Ask his old pal OJ Simpson
Mark Fuhrman — the former Los Angeles Police Department detective who investigated alleged murderer OJ Simpson and was later accused of racist biases in that case — was reported on Monday to have died last week.
The reactions, at least on social media, appear to be split along political lines.
“Mark Fuhrman, the controversial LAPD detective whose testimony became a flashpoint in the O.J. Simpson trial, has passed away from an aggressive form of throat cancer at age 74,” tweeted retired Colorado detective Lisa J. Miller on Monday. “Years earlier, his fellow lead detective Philip Vannatter also died of complications from cancer. I had the genuine honor of meeting Phil and sharing lunch with him.”
Miller shared that Vannatter “was a kind, principled gentleman who spoke candidly about his deep disappointment in Fuhrman’s actions and the political circus that he felt undermined the case and contributed to Simpson’s not-guilty verdict.”
The former law enforcement officer concluded, “Two detectives, forever linked by history. May both rest in peace. #OJSimpson #MarkFuhrman”
Stand-up comedian Dave Landau echoed Miller’s criticism but with a much harsher framing.
“Mark Fuhrman passed away,” Landau posted. “His ashes will be spread unnecessarily all over a crime scene.”
Former Fox Sports and News Corp journalist Robert Lutesich criticized both Luhrman and Simpson in his commentary about Fuhrman’s passing.
“OJ got away with murder because of police & prosecutorial bungling - & crafty defense lawyering - but his luckiest break came when a predominantly Black jury heard Mark Fuhrman, who testified he'd never used the N-word, on tape using it,” Lutesich wrote. “He wasn't a good man; OJ wasn't, either.”
In contrast to more mainstream commentators, conservative and pro-Trump commentators have attempted to celebrate Fuhrman’s life in the wake of his death.
“R.I.P.,” wrote conservative commentator Michelle Malkin on Monday. “He was REDEEMED. Mark Fuhrman wrote the most powerful indictment of Oklahoma's death penalty machine, crime lab catastrophes, and wrongful convictions.”
Anthony Sabatini, a Florida Republican politician and past congressional candidate, expressed a similar view but more succinctly.
“RIP Mark Fuhrman—a great American & fighter for justice,” Sabatini posted.
A conservative commentator from the show Real America, Grant Stinchfield, went on in more detail about his thoughts on Fuhrman, who he personally knew.
“Mark Fuhrman dead at 74,” Stinchfield wrote. “I got to know and respect him. He solved a the cold case murder of Martha Moxley, that put Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel in prison. I spent every day with Mark during that trial in 2002. He will be missed.”
During the Simpson trial, Fuhrman was transformed from being a standard prosecution witness into a lightning rod for controversy after it was revealed he had used racial slurs and made racist comments in private. He also was accused of planting evidence in the Simpson trial, although that was never proved. Legal experts widely agreed that the controversies surrounding Fuhrman, which Simpson’s legal team discussed extensively, played a key role in the jury’s decision to acquit him.