George Richard Moscone (/məˈskoʊni/; November 24, 1929 – November 27, 1978) was an American attorney and Democratic politician. He was the 37th mayor of San Francisco, California from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. He was known as "the people's mayor", who opened up City Hall and its commissions to reflect the diversity of San Francisco.

Moscone served in the California State Senate from 1967 until becoming Mayor. In the Senate, he served as Majority Leader.

On December 19, 1974, Moscone announced he would run for Mayor of San Francisco in the 1975 race.[4] In a close race in November of 1975, Moscone placed first with conservative city supervisor John Barbagelata second and supervisor Dianne Feinstein coming in third.

Moscone ran a grassroots mayoral campaign which drew volunteers from organizations like Glide Methodist Memorial Church, Delancey Street (a rehabilitation center for ex-convicts) and the People's Temple which was initially known as a church preaching racial equality and social justice but turned into a fanatic cult

Assassination

Late in 1978, Dan White resigned from the Board of Supervisors. His resignation would allow Moscone to choose White's successor, which could tip the Board's balance of power in Moscone's favor. Recognizing this matter as such, those who supported a more conservative agenda and opposed integration of the police and fire departments talked White into changing his mind. White then requested that Moscone appoint him to his former seat.

Moscone originally indicated a willingness to reconsider, but more liberal city leaders, including Harvey Milk, lobbied him against the idea, and Moscone ultimately decided not to appoint White. On November 27, 1978, three days after Moscone's 49th birthday, White went to San Francisco City Hall to meet with Moscone and make a final plea for appointment. White snuck into City Hall through a basement window to avoid the metal detector at the main door. He carried his old police revolver. When Moscone agreed to talk with him in a private room, White pulled the gun out of his suit jacket and shot and killed Moscone. White then re-loaded his gun, walked across City Hall, went to Milk's office and shot Milk, killing him as well.

Dianne Feinstein, President of the Board of Supervisors, was sworn in as the city's new mayor and in the following years would emerge as one of California's most prominent politicians.

>>5449105

Forgot to paste the link

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Moscone

Trial and its aftermath

White was charged with first-degree murder with special circumstance, a crime which potentially carried the death penalty. White's defense team claimed that he was depressed at the time of the shootings, evidenced by many changes in his behavior, including changes in his diet. Inaccurate media reports said White's defense had presented junk food consumption as the cause of his mental state, rather than a symptom of it, leading to the derisive term "Twinkie defense"; this became a persistent myth when, in fact, defense lawyers neither argued junk food caused him to commit the shootings and never even mentioned Twinkies. Rather, the defense argued that White's depression led to a state of mental diminished capacity, leaving him unable to have formed the premeditation necessary to commit first-degree murder. The jury accepted these arguments, and White was convicted of the lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter

The verdict proved to be highly controversial…

White was paroled in 1984 and committed suicide less than two years later.

White confessed that not only was his killing of Moscone and Milk premeditated, but that he had actually planned to kill Silver and Brown as well. Falzon quoted White as having said, "I was on a mission. I wanted four of them. Carol Ruth Silver, she was the biggest snake … and Willie Brown, he was masterminding the whole thing.

The revolver used, serial number 1J7901,[1] has gone missing from police evidence storage, possibly having been destroyed

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscone%E2%80%93Milk_assassinations

>>5449192

Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (/ˈfaɪnstaɪn/; born Dianne Emiel Goldman, June 22, 1933) is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from California. She took office on November 4, 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, Feinstein was Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988

Born in San Francisco, Feinstein graduated from Stanford University in 1955 with a Bachelor of Arts in History.[2] In the 1960s, she worked in city government, and she was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1969. She served as the board's first female president in 1978, during which time the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk drew national attention. Feinstein succeeded Moscone as Mayor of San Francisco and became the first woman to assume the position

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianne_Feinstein