A Conversation with 'Five Bullets' Author Elliot Williams

“Wow, what a ride back to New York in the 1980s, and the case that captivated the country! Elliot Williams’s Five Bullets is an amazing story, well told.” —Anderson Cooper

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On Dec. 22, 1984, Bernard "Bernie" Goetz, a white man, shot and seriously wounded Barry Allen, Darrell Cabey, Troy Canty, and James Ramseur—four teenagers from the Bronx, at point blank range. Goetz claimed they were going to mug him; the teens claim that one of them had simply asked for five dollars.

In Five Bullets, Elliot Williams vaults back to gritty 1980s Manhattan and reexamines the first major true-crime story of the cable news era. Drawing on archives and interviews with many main characters, including Goetz, Williams presents a masterful and vivid tale that also tells the origin stories of larger-than-life figures like Al Sharpton, Rudy Giuliani, and Rupert Murdoch. Five Bullets demonstrates why, in order to understand today’s debates about race, crime, safety, and the media, it’s imperative to reflect on what went down in the subway four decades ago.

Elliot Williams is a CNN legal analyst and regular guest host on SiriusXM and WAMU, NPR’s Washington, DC, station. He has spent his career thinking about law, crime, and politics, serving as a federal prosecutor and later as a senior official at the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security. A Brooklyn-born son of Jamaican immigrants, he grew up in New Jersey and vividly recalls the powder keg that was 1980s New York.

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by The New York Times and The Washington Post, join us as we hear from Five Bullets author, and CNN Legal Analyst Elliot Williams.

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Online ticket sales for this forum will conclude on Wednesday, March 18th. For more information regarding ticketing/registration, contact Stacy Rogers at (216) 621-0082.

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After the forum, a book signing with the author will be available. ThirdSpace Reading Room will be on site for book sales.

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The livestream will be available beginning at 12:00pm. Have questions for the Q&A? Text them to 330.541.5794.

Production and distribution of City Club forums in partnership with Ideastream Public Media is generously provided by PNC and the United Black Fund.