in Los Angeles, the death of former American football star OJ Simpson reopens the debate on his acquittal in 1995

OJ Simpson was acquitted of the double murder of his ex-wife and her partner in 1995, after a high-profile trial. He died at the age of 76.

He was known worldwide for “the trial of the century”, when he defended himself against indictment for the double murder of his ex-wife and her partner in 1994. OJ Simpson, the former American football star, died of cancer at the age of 76, his family announced Thursday April 11.

His acquittal in 1995, after a resounding trial, illustrated the racial divisions in the United States. In 2016, the FX channel even devoted a successful mini-series to this affair, American crime story: the People vs OJ Simpsonwith actor Cuba Gooding Jr in the role of the former sportsman.

Friday on the beach in Long Beach, south of Los Angeles, not many people wanted to talk about OJ Simpson in front of a microphone. The character, adored by America during his career as a player and actor, has been controversial for 30 years and the double murder of which he was accused. Basketball in hand, Marcus, African-American, prefers to remember the athlete.“I don’t really know about his private life but if we talk about the player, someone I admired in a sporting context, OJ was a legend. His disappearance makes me sad”he assures.

“I’m not going to speak ill of a dead person.”

During the trial, his lawyers made the former American footballer a civil rights figure, while he had always stayed away from racial considerations. This strategy paid off just after the Rodney King affair, this black motorist beaten up in 1991 by police officers, never convicted despite a video. The acquittal had confirmed the racial divisions in the country, with images of joy of black Americans opposed to those of furious whites playing on all television channels.

Nearly 80% of African-Americans then considered him innocent, while nearly 75% of whites thought and still believe him guilty. “There’s a lot of speculation on both sides. Did he do it or not? I believe he committed this crime and escaped justice. But I’m not going to speak ill of a dead person”estimates Dennis, a white guy with muscles covered in tattoos and a full goatee.

Nearly six in ten African-Americans considered him innocent in 2017

Since that time, the gap between the two communities has narrowed somewhat. In 2017, six out of ten black people considered him innocent. For John, a Donald Trump supporter who came to walk his dog on the Pacific coast, America talks too much about its differences. “Race had nothing to do with it. All this talk about race in the United States is ridiculous. I would say everyone has a little racism in them but is the whole country racist? No.”snaps John.

OJ Simpson was acquitted criminally for the double murder but was ordered to pay more than $30 million in civil damages. He had spent nine years in a Nevada prison for a violent robbery case in the 2000s.