1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting

Colin Ferguson was convicted of the December 7, 1993 shooting of 25 people aboard the 5:33 pm Long Island Railroad commuter train out of Penn Station, in Long Island, New York. Ferguson was wrestled to the floor of the train by three men, as he reloaded his Ruger P-89 9mm pistol for the third time, and held until the arrival of police. (The gun had been legally purchased.) He killed six passengers and wounded nineteen others in this act of mass murder.

Despite the fact that he was captured with gun in hand, and that all known eyewitnesses agreed that Ferguson was the killer, Ferguson argued that he had been framed: someone had stolen his gun, he asserted, while he slept, and shot the passengers. "This is", he said, "a case of stereotyped victimization of a black man and the subsequent conspiracy to destroy him." This assertion that complete strangers had conspired to frame him, and that he had been racially profiled, were but two of many reasons his own lawyers urged him to plead insanity.

Ferguson's attack fits the definition of a hate crime, as he deliberately targeted people based on their race. However, the case was not prosecuted as such.

Trial

During the trial, William M. Kunstler and Ronald L. Kuby attempted to argue that Ferguson was driven to insanity through years of living in an oppressive and racist society. They argued that Ferguson's insistence on representing himself and not pleading insanity demonstrated his psychological incompetence to stand trial. This was referred to as a "black rage defense", and was rejected by Ferguson who insisted he was innocent.

Ferguson argued that the 93 counts he was charged with were related to the year 1993, and thus the charges had been made up by the prosecution. He also argued that a mysterious black man, with the same residential address, had committed the crimes. Later, he argued that a white man had committed the crimes. He called witnesses that identified him as the killer, and spoke to them in such a way as to provoke them to reiterate that identification time and again. Reporters found these moments of Ferguson's defence "bizarre" and "surreal".

Ferguson was sentenced to six terms of life imprisonment, on February 17, 1995.

Judge Donald E. Belfi, of the Nassau County Court, called Ferguson a "selfish, self-righteous, coward."

Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband Denis McCarthy was killed by Ferguson, and whose son, Kevin McCarthy, was severely injured, was subsequently elected to the United States Congress on a platform of gun control.

The survivors of some other victims of Ferguson's rampage (those killed were Denis McCarthy, James Gorycki, Amy LoCicero, Theresa Magtoto, Richard Nettleton, Mikyung Kim) have also become involved in gun control efforts.

Additional Quotes

• "I hope somewhere down the road I will be forgotten...that I will just be able to live the life I had before, a quiet life unknown to the world."