Back in 1986, Pennsylvania State Treasurer, Budd Dwyer’s suicide was a tragic event that shocked the entire nation. Budd Dwyer’s death was broadcasted live on TV. This deeply affected an entire generation of people who saw the tragedy unfold live on television. The footage of the incident cataloged on The Internet Archive website is still a horrifying instance watched by millions of people.
TRIGGER WARNING: THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE DISCUSSES INSTANCES OF SELF-HARM AND SUICIDE.
The footage has somehow found its way onto TikTok. Decades after the incident, it continues to fascinate and horrify generations of people. The footage showcased Budd Dwyer, who was accused of bribery and corruption, committing suicide by shooting himself whilst in a live-broadcast press conference.
This infamous image of Budd Dwyer is being increasingly circulated around social media (Image via Twitter/@EmperorOTN1)
TikToks and Tweets surrounding R. Budd Dwyer’s death have been circulating on social media, despite users being unable to share the actual footage as it is against social media community guidelines.
On TikTok, some users post the footage leading up to the incident but cut the video before the actual event. Others post Dwyer’s face and a short clip of the events leading up to the suicide footage in a “disturbing videos on the internet” style of videomaking, while others talk about the incident or show the clip merged with a grim video as seen below.
A screenshot of a brief TikTok explanation-style video on the topic by jade.loves.crime (Image via TikTok/@jade.loves.crime)
Budd Dwyer was charged with bribery
Robert Budd Dwyer was a veteran Republican politician, who served as the Pennsylvania State Treasurer, back in 1986. He also served in the state’s House of Representatives from 1964 to 1970 and later in the Pennsylvania State Senate till 1980.
In 1980, he became the 30th state treasurer of Pennsylvania, a position he held till 1984, and then retained after winning the re-election. He remained in this position until the fateful day of January 22, 1987. Dwyer’s drastic actions on the day were a result of a plethora of charges leveled against him.
Budd Dwyer’s demise was the result of a plethora of federal charges, bribery included (Image via Twitter/@CrossEyedBear)
Towards the end of Dwyer’s career things quickly fell apart. In the 80s Pennsylvania officials discovered that its state workers had overpaid federal taxes by millions of dollars.
This was due to state withholding errors before Dwyer’s administration. However, the correction of the errors and determination of compensation required a multimillion-dollar recovery contract.
The contract was competed for by a lot of accounting firms. In 1986, Budd Dwyer was convicted of taking a bribe from a California-based firm, Computer Technology Associates, to give them the job.
Federal prosecution offered Budd Dwyer a deal that offered him a five-year sentence in prison on the condition that he plead guilty to one charge of bribery, resigned his position as treasurer, and co-operated with the investigation. However, he refused to do so and went ahead with the trial, hoping for it to go in his favor.
Unfortunately, this did not happen. Dwyer was found guilty of 11 counts of perjury, conspiracy, and mail fraud. He was also found guilty of interstate transportation in aid of racketeering. He was facing up to 55 years in prison and a fine of $300,000. Dwyer was set to be sentenced on January 23, 1987.
Budd Dwyer’s heart-wrenching final moments
The day before his sentencing, on January 22, 1987, Budd Dwyer called a press conference in Harrisburg, PA. Dwyer had handed out a 20-page prepared text of his statement to the media and his press secretary, but he himself was reading from a 21-page document. Dwyer re-stated his innocence and criticized the justice system as he read from the heart-wrenching 21 pages. He stated:
“I’ve repeatedly said that I’m not going to resign as State Treasurer. After many hours of thought and meditation, I’ve made a decision that should not be an example to anyone because it is unique to my situation.”
He stated:
“I am going to die in office in an effort to ‘ … see if the shame[-ful] facts, spread out in all their shame, will not burn through our civic shamelessness and set fire to American pride.'”
He warned anyone with a weak stomach to leave immediately since he did not want to cause any physical or mental distress. With his last words, he thanked his family:
“Joanne, Rob, DeeDee – I love you! Thank you for making my life so happy. Good bye to you all on the count of 3. Please make sure that the sacrifice of my life is not in vain.”
After his final words, he passed out sealed envelopes to his staffers, one addressed to the Pennsylvania Governor, and the second one was an organ donor card. The third was addressed to his family, which included three letters, one for his wife, and two for each of his children.
After passing out the envelopes, Dwyer pulled out a manila envelope. Inside this particular envelope was a Model 19 .357 Magnum Revolver. To the shock of everyone present at the event, he took out the revolver. A few seconds later he died of a fatal gunshot wound from the same revolver.
In 2010, a documentary about Bud Dwyer’s life and the tragic incident titled, “Honest Man: The Life of R. Budd Dwyer” was released. In a panel discussion for the film, Dwyer’s sister Mary Kun claimed that he did not plan his suicide to provide financial security for his family but instead stated that he had sacrificed himself to help the system.
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Edited by Nicolaas Ackermann
Categories: Trending
Source: newstars.edu.vn