It was during a November 3rd, 1988, episode of Geraldo Rivera’s arguably tabloidesque show bearing his namesake – “Geraldo” – that crafted what was arguably one of the most sensational moments of “must see tv” amidst an era where such phrases were still a part of the then-modern lexicon.

Rivera opted for a provocative topic involving the skinhead movement during that November 1988 episode, inviting a host of provocative guests – most notably John Metzger who was leading the White Aryan Resistance Youth at the time and son of the now-late Tom Metzger, a former KKK Grand Wizard who founded the White Aryan Resistance.

Also featured at the onset of the show were guests who’d suffered a random attack perpetuated by skinheads – not directly affiliated with the three skinhead group leaders featured on the show. A then-31-year-old William Stump, who is white, recounted the attack he endured by numerous skinheads, while sporting the blackened eye from the facial fracture caused in the November 2nd, 1988, attack.

The show was ostensibly a hot mess, with the three skinhead guests engaging in arguments and shouting matches between Rivera, Stump, the audience – while also invited supporters of the three paneled skinheads also participating in defending their views from the audience.

While things never escalated beyond vehement disagreements, things went south about halfway into the episode after two new guests were brought to the mainstage – the now-late Roy Innis, who was then the chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality, and the recently deceased Rabbi A. Bruce Goldman.

While taking questions from the audience, Rivera approached a woman who asked the skinheads on the panel why they were shouting people down in the audience and not answering direct questions. Metzger handled the response to the question with the following:

“The reason why I do that is because I get sick and tired of hearing the sob stories from kikes, I get sick and tired of seeing Uncle Tom here sucking up, trying to be a white man…”

This is when things went all bad, as Innis stood up from his chair after being directly pointed at and called an “Uncle Tom” by Metzger, walking up to Metzger saying, “Let me tell you,” with then one of the other skinheads telling Innis to sit down and within mere moments Innis had his hands around Metzger’s neck.

The whole studio then erupted into a brawl – with the skinhead supporters from the audience and studio employees jumping into the fray, with someone throwing a chair that had struck show host Rivera right in the nose – leaving it broken and bloody.

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This piece was written by Gregory Hoyt on January 9, 2022. It originally appeared in RedVoiceMedia.com and is used by permission.

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