OJ Simpson, the white Bronco and America. The car chase that changed everything

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Reality TV wasn’t much of an industry before June 17, 1994. That all changed the day Orenthal James “O.J.” Simpson attempted to avoid arrest by hiding in the back of his white Ford Bronco during a slow-speed chase as more than 95 million people watched from home, mostly in disbelief.  

News helicopters followed the SUV’s every move with a cadre of police in tow. O.J., the accused killer of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman, was hunkered down in the back seat with a gun to his head. Earlier, O.J. had left a handwritten letter declaring his innocence, and making “a last wish” to “leave my children in peace.” 

“I’ve had a great life, great friends,” his letter said as a friend read it out loud with cameras rolling. “Please think of the real O.J. and not this lost person.”

It was all too surreal to absorb in real time. 

OJ SIMPSON DEAD AT 76, FAMILY SAYS

O.J. Simpson, the larger-than-life sports icon-turned-celebrity, was on the run, but unlike his Hall-of-Fame football career, this run was happening in slow motion. The Bronco, driven by his former teammate Al Cowlings, breezed along California highways below

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