With that, I hated residing in the same metropolitan area as OJ Simpson. The local news would randomly torment me with his existence, writing headlines to amplify his presence like, "O.J. Simpson ready for coronavirus in Las Vegas," and "O.J. Simpson says Nevada’s golf course closures ‘unfortunate,'" or patronize me by publicizing his sports bar appearances and photo-ops with fans. There he is, the "Juiceman," a walking personification of injustice dampening my favorite escape from the realities of life: a simple outing to watch a football game. 

I always imagined I would feel a sense of relief if he was gone, as I've long ruminated over the possibility of "The Juice" walking into the same restaurant I was dining in, and ruining a perfectly good steak with his being. With OJ's passing, I anticipated a semblance of closure, but to my surprise, I was left with a sense of alarm instead.

First, there was the media coverage, as RedState's Sister Toldjah wrote about here:

Defund Them Now: NPR's Original Headline and Story on the Death of OJ Simpson Were Something Else

The media acted like his ex-wife Nicole Brown, a young mother who was brutally slain in 1994 along with her friend Ron Goldman, was merely an inconvenience to OJ's storied football career and Hertz rental car commercial legacy. 

The Heisman Trophy Trust put out a statement of mourning, "extending sympathy to his family."

pic.twitter.com/dqUVjoihLt

— The Heisman Trophy (@HeismanTrophy) April 11, 2024

The White House expressed their condolences. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said,

Our thoughts are with his families [sic] during this difficult time — obviously with his family and loved ones.

And, I complained. 

On behalf of Nicole and the more than 4,000 American women who die every year due to domestic violence, I took to social media venting and complaining. Next came the reminders from men that OJ had been acquitted, as if I somehow missed the "Trial of the Century." Excuse me for noticing that not a single woman felt compelled to remind me of the jury's verdict. Just the men suffering from a bad case of correctile dysfunction.

Acquitted? No kidding? Was he, really?

I do remember the trial, back when we had newspapers in print, and his mug, looking as guilty as ever, appeared daily on the front page. I remember that my grandmother was pissed, saying that he got away with murder while the news showed people cheering in the streets. A true American travesty that entered every home in our country, dividing us into our respective camps. A theater of emotion and not an ounce of justice. How could I forget?

Do you know what I remember most of all? That Nicole Brown, as a domestic violence victim, was murdered with impunity, in part because society was so enamored with the faux charisma of OJ, who she reported as abusing her. This is encapsulated by the fanfare of the public gathering with signs above the highway during the infamous low-speed Bronco chase. This impenetrable facade renders the cycle of abuse invisible. When the perpetrator doesn't fit the expected mold or has an accepted good guy persona, it leaves countless victims like Nicole Brown without the justice and acknowledgment they rightfully deserve.

That was the most distressing aspect of the day OJ met his demise — the final injustice inflicted upon Nicole Brown. Society once more ensured that OJ escaped accountability, disregarding her death as inconsequential.

Alas, with the same indignant righteousness I recall in my grandmother almost 30 years ago, women spoke out. Famed attorney Gloria Allred, who represented Nicole Brown's family during OJ's criminal trial, released a statement calling his death a reminder that the justice system is still "failing battered women" and allowing "celebrity men to avoid true justice."

Allred wrote:

Even though he beat her, inflicted a black eye on her, and left her terrified hiding in the bushes, in 1989 he was never jailed by a judge for the spousal violence to which she was subjected and to which he plead no contest. 

Simpson’s death reminds us that the legal system even 30 years later is still failing battered women, and that the power of celebrity men to avoid true justice for the harm that they inflict on their wives or significant others is still a major obstacle to the right of women to be free of the gender violence to which they are still subjected.

Nicole Brown called the police to report OJ’s violence nine times. In1989 she pleaded for his arrest but the system protected OJ and abandoned her. Three years later she and Ron Goldman were murdered. Biden sent his condolences on OJ’s death. I prefer to honor his victims. pic.twitter.com/5D9k8B7oJW

— Kelley Paul (@KelleyAshbyPaul) April 12, 2024

Kelley Paul, wife of Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), posted a photograph of Nicole Brown on social media detailing the violence she reported at the hands of OJ while condemning the White House's condolences, writing:

Nicole Brown called the police to report OJ’s violence nine times. In 1989, she pleaded for his arrest but the system protected OJ and abandoned her. Three years later she and Ron Goldman were murdered. Biden sent his condolences on OJ’s death. I prefer to honor his victims.

California RNC Committeewoman and legal juggernaut Harmeet Dhillon shared the post, reflecting on her experiences in assisting domestic violence victims, noting a pattern of "societal apathy."

Over the years I’ve helped many victims of domestic violence escape their abusers. Their circumstances in life were very different, but the cycle of abuse and apology and enablers and societal apathy were remarkably the same. Nicole Brown was like so many women. RIP Nicole. https://t.co/M8UdoNjIjr

— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) April 12, 2024

Dhillon wrote:

Over the years I’ve helped many victims of domestic violence escape their abusers. Their circumstances in life were very different, but the cycle of abuse and apology and enablers and societal apathy were remarkably the same. Nicole Brown was like so many women. RIP Nicole.

Nicole Brown's tragic fate serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing struggle for justice and recognition faced by countless victims of domestic violence. She died at the hands of not only her killer, but the cyclical apathy domestic violence victims are often met with. This reality is at the heart of my feelings of aggrievement in the aftermath of OJ's passing. 

Ultimately, the conversation sparked by OJ Simpson's death should serve as an opportunity to address deeper issues surrounding domestic violence, not only encompassing support systems and legal reforms, but the societal attitudes that enable, ignore, and perpetuate domestic violence. 

The collective societal response in the wake of OJ's death is an indictment regarding how much work we have left to do to keep our friends, sisters, and daughters safe. It's a call to action to honor Nicole's memory by striving for a society where domestic violence is no longer tolerated or trivialized.