An Encounter With OJ

OJ Simpson is back in the news again. Roger L Simon posted an article at Pajamas Media today how the OJ Simpson murder trial was the catalyst for a change in his political outlook and how he had encountered OJ in person in the courtroom.

I had my own encounter with OJ several years ago and it made my flesh crawl. I was on my way back from a business trip to SE Asia in the spring of 1998. I had returned via LAX and had several hours layover before catching a red-eye to Chicago and thence on home. It was far enough ahead of my flight that a gate wasn't assigned yet so I was sitting just inside the security checkpoint trying to read.

I heard a bit of a commotion at the checkpoint, nothing alarming, just some guy whistling some tune or other and trying to engage the security personnel in conversation. As he passed through and came into clear view I recognized him immediately. He was still whistling and carrying on somewhat and I realized at that point that we was trying to draw attention to himself and make eye contact with as many people as he could. Now I don't encounter celebrities (or notorieties in this case) every day but I thought that his behavior was kind of odd. I generally think of celebrities trying to blend in and not draw attention to themselves in settings like that. This guy had a kind of a sneer on his face, which I couldn't quite figure out at first. As he passed by where I was sitting our eyes met very briefly and it hit me that he didn't want attention just for attention's sake. He was laughing at everybody. In the brief few seconds I met his eyes, I had the feeling I was looking at a window into pure evil. This was a man who had gotten away with killing two human beings in cold-blood and he knew we knew it. He was revelling in it and practically daring us to say anything to him and enjoying that he had this power to creep people out. I have to say I was and I quickly looked away, partly because I was a little unnerved but also because I didn't want to give him the pleasure of being acknowledged.

The encounter was over in a few seconds and he continued on his way. I've thought about the incident and how it made me feel many times since it happened. It's a feeling I hope never to have again.