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From high-speed chases to unexpected captures, these arrests captivated the world and defined generations. Join us as we look at criminal arrests that broke the internet! Our countdown includes O.J. Simpson's Bronco chase, El Chapo's capture, and Harvey Weinstein's dramatic downfall. Which infamous arrest do you think changed public perception the most?
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00:00I mean, we're all stuck here for a while. Let's, you know, let's, let's, let's try to work it out.
00:05Let's try to beat it, you know, let's try and work it out.
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at 10 criminal arrests that captured the world's attention.
00:14From crime lords to ordinary students, these cases became the focus of casual onlookers and true crime aficionados alike.
00:22Meanwhile, investigators are talking to Madoff Lieutenant Frank DiPascali and others,
00:26still trying to figure out what happened on the 17th floor.
00:32Luigi Mangione.
00:33You commit a crime in Manhattan, you're crazy to begin with. It's as simple as that.
00:36In an increasingly polarized climate, violent crimes often become political flashpoints.
00:41One such moment followed the arrest of Luigi Mangione.
00:44After the killing of health care executive Brian Thompson in New York City, a nationwide manhunt ensued.
00:49Not long afterward, Mangione was taken into custody in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
00:53I'm a manager at Plank Grove McDonald's out here on the boulevard.
00:57Okay.
00:57And I have a customer here that some other customers were suspicious of, that he looked like the CEO shooter.
01:05Employees at a local McDonald's recognized him and alerted police.
01:09Body camera footage and photos from the arrest spread rapidly online.
01:12Commentators dissected the videos, questioning police tactics and focusing heavily on Mangione's appearance.
01:17He became an infamous online figure, part folk hero, part villain.
01:20Almost overnight, fierce debate followed, touching on the damage caused by the health care industry.
01:25Debate also continues over the unsettling role perceived attractiveness played in the reaction.
01:30The authorities say the suspect was in possession of items consistent with the New York shooting,
01:35allegedly including a firearm and a silencer,
01:38as well as a document expressing ill will towards corporate America.
01:43Amanda Knox.
01:50A year abroad in Italy was supposed to be an adventure.
01:53It became an international nightmare.
01:55Amanda Knox was arrested in Perugia after the murder of her roommate.
01:58The story quickly became a worldwide true crime obsession.
02:01An American student accused of a brutal crime overseas proved irresistible to the media.
02:06Her mugshot circulated online, along with leaked details from her interrogation.
02:0921-year-old Knox has given differing versions of what happened, but consistently denied any wrongdoing.
02:16And Amanda, of course, was upset about the decision.
02:18She was looking to have a prompt solution.
02:20Courtroom footage spread rapidly.
02:22Tabloids coined nicknames and dissected her behavior frame by frame.
02:26Public opinion hardened long before the legal process could catch up.
02:29In later rulings, Italian courts acknowledged serious flaws in the prosecution,
02:33including coerced statements and unreliable DNA evidence.
02:36Despite these issues, the case pressed forward amid intense media scrutiny.
02:39Knox was ultimately exonerated and released.
02:42I'm sleep deprived.
02:43I'm isolated.
02:44I eventually get yelled at.
02:47I am being lied to.
02:49I'm being hit.
02:50It is going on and on and on.
02:52Until I am led to believe by the police that I have witnessed the crime, but I don't remember it.
02:59Kyle Rittenhouse.
03:08Kyle Rittenhouse's arrest occurred amid an atmosphere already primed for conflict.
03:13Protests in Kenosha had become a flashpoint in America's political divide, praised by some and fiercely condemned by others.
03:19When Rittenhouse shot three men during the unrest, killing two, the media response was immediate.
03:23Sides formed almost instantly and the case became another focal point for online political rage.
03:28The case has become a lightning rod in the culture wars.
03:32Rittenhouse has emerged as a hero to many on the right.
03:35His $2 million bail was paid through donations.
03:38The trial only intensified the reaction.
03:40Live-streamed proceedings drew massive audiences.
03:43His eventual acquittal sparked celebrations, outrage, and renewed debate nationwide.
03:47To supporters on the right, Rittenhouse became a poster boy for gun rights and self-defense.
03:52To critics on the left, he embodied the dangers of American gun culture.
03:55His case transformed into a violent symbol of a divided nation.
03:59He's the one that caused that carnage.
04:02He's the one that put people in harm's way.
04:05Joaquin El Chapo Guzman.
04:06Here he gets out of prison and he's on the road being spotted at this place having, you know, drinks
04:13and this place, you know, with his family members.
04:16By the time Joaquin El Chapo Guzman was captured in 2016, the world had already long known his name.
04:22His two previous prison escapes had made him a legendary drug lord.
04:25The manhunt after his second was a spectacle watched around the globe.
04:28Eventually, the Mexican authorities announced his arrest.
04:30The footage spread instantly across news networks and social media.
04:33Just how he managed to evade capture while amassing a $14 billion fortune running the world's largest drug smuggling ring
04:41laid bare over his lengthy trial.
04:43Every detail was dissected, from the raid itself to his heavily guarded transfer.
04:48The arrest went viral because it felt definitive, cinematic, and overdue.
04:51For once, El Chapo wasn't slipping away.
04:53The long-running saga the public had followed for years eventually came to an end when Guzman was convicted in
04:58New York.
04:58He currently resides in ADX Florence Supermax.
05:01Today, we learned that a team of El Chapo engineers was sent to Germany for three months training ahead of
05:08its construction.
05:09And now, the El Chapo story takes another turn down the rabbit hole.
05:14Rodney King.
05:15Do you have any idea at all how many times you were hit by a club?
05:21What do you remember about that aspect of it?
05:23Several times. Several times.
05:25The first real viral video was a grainy recording of police violence that changed media history.
05:29After a high-speed chase, Rodney King was violently beaten by LAPD officers.
05:34All the while, a bystander recorded the encounter on a camcorder.
05:37The footage aired repeatedly on television spreading across the globe.
05:40Millions watched in disbelief, rewinding and replaying images that were impossible to ignore.
05:44The arrest and beating became a shared visual experience, forcing police brutality into the public conversation.
05:50Looking back, King said he'd made a mistake running from the police that night.
05:54He said he didn't want to go to jail for drunk driving.
05:57When I saw the tape, it was, uh, I was so happy that it was on tape.
06:04When three officers were initially acquitted and a jury struggled to reach a verdict on another, outrage erupted into the
06:101992 Los Angeles riots.
06:12King's case showed how video could expose abuses once hidden from view.
06:15It set the template for viral police footage that followed.
06:18When I finally faced down, he bam!
06:21Took the blow, bam!
06:24A real hard blow to the temple.
06:26When he did that, I just looked, and then I went up like that and run this way.
06:30With my hands up.
06:32It showed no threat.
06:33Harvey Weinstein.
06:34The man who once ruled Hollywood must now wear a tracking monitor and is the subject of at least two
06:40more investigations.
06:41When Harvey Weinstein turned himself into the New York City Police Department, the rest of the world seemed to know
06:46within moments.
06:47Footage of the once untouchable producer arriving in handcuffs spread across news feeds worldwide.
06:52The arrest, visible, public, and symbolic, felt like it carried the weight of the entire hashtag MeToo movement.
06:58More than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment, misconduct, and even s**t.
07:03Most cases remained out of the public eye after he quietly made financial arrangements with the victims.
07:09For decades, Weinstein's power had operated behind closed doors, protected by silence and industry intimidation.
07:15In 2017, investigative reporters brought forward dozens of women with allegations of harassment, assault, and intimidation.
07:22The following year, the image of Weinstein under police escort was unavoidable.
07:25That image became one of the defining moments of the era.
07:28For many, it marked a rare instance where a powerful figure visibly faced consequences.
07:33It's still unclear exactly what happens to him next, but we know that he has been not just charged now,
07:40but convicted of two very serious crimes.
07:43George Floyd.
07:44Since we had three people and only us two officers, I was like, you know, we should put him in
07:48the car.
07:49We're going to get him secured.
07:50The killing of George Floyd was captured on a bystander's phone, echoing the impact of the Rodney King video decades
07:55earlier.
07:55The footage spread worldwide within hours.
07:57Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes as Floyd pleaded for his life.
08:03Public outrage exploded immediately.
08:05That anger landed in a world already strained by pandemic lockdowns, economic fear, and months of isolation.
08:11Protests erupted across the United States and quickly spread to cities around the globe.
08:15The next morning, even though things are quieter, the protests continued in the streets.
08:21But these streets are a bit different.
08:24When Chauvin was arrested days later, the moment went viral on its own.
08:27The arrest was framed as a test of accountability amid unprecedented pressure.
08:31Political reactions only widened the divide.
08:33President Donald Trump condemned unrest, threatening crackdowns while protesters demanded justice.
08:38You said your brother would be part of history.
08:40This is what George lived for.
08:42He loved to see people happy.
08:44He loved to see people getting along.
08:45He wanted to bring everybody together.
08:46Bernie Madoff.
08:47Madoff was driven.
08:48He has the kind of personality that is extremely proud of the incredibly intricate and complex web that he's woven.
08:59The arrest of Bernie Madoff marked a financial reckoning that quickly became a cultural shockwave.
09:04For years, he had been a trusted fixture of Wall Street.
09:06He was a man whose reputation rested on decades of apparent success and reliability.
09:10Amid a worldwide financial crisis, news broke that federal agents had taken Madoff into custody.
09:15The revelation was explosive.
09:16Nothing my team did stopped Madoff.
09:18Nothing the government did stopped Madoff.
09:21He blew up because the markets blew up in 2008.
09:25Investigators soon revealed losses in the tens of billions.
09:27Thousands of families, charities, celebrities, and institutions were devastated.
09:31To much of the public, Madoff became a symbol.
09:33He was one of the few Wall Street figures to face real consequences in the wake of the crisis.
09:37For many, his arrest offered a rare and limited sense of accountability.
09:41The fact that he goes 150 years in jail, that's justice has been done.
09:46The 12 years that his lawyers asked, justice wouldn't have been done.
09:50Jeffrey Epstein.
09:51Those who pushed for a change in state law, allowing the release of the grand jury testimony,
09:55said it shows the public and gives them a chance to get a better glimpse of Epstein's predatory behavior
10:02and to see that he got a sweetheart deal 18 months in the county jail.
10:07Jeffrey Epstein's arrest sent shockwaves through the public consciousness.
10:10The wealthy financier had deep ties to politicians, royalty, and billionaires.
10:14When the nature of his alleged crimes was revealed, the story spread instantly.
10:18Speculation and conspiracy theories were fueled by years of unanswered questions and a controversial prior plea deal.
10:23Every photo, flight record, and social connection was dissected online.
10:27Sexual predators like Jeffrey Epstein have an eye for picking out someone who is in need of something,
10:35and they identify that need, and then they exploit it.
10:39When Epstein later died in jail, public anger and suspicion intensified.
10:43Attention quickly shifted to Ghislaine Maxwell, his longtime associate.
10:46Her arrest in 2020 reignited global interest and renewed scrutiny of Epstein's inner circle.
10:50Ever since, both the left and right have demanded that all the documents related to Epstein's case be released.
10:56But sources say a second camera, inside the tier,
10:59the one that could have seen Epstein's cell door,
11:01and the doors of other inmates, was not working that night.
11:05The theories that are out there, one of them is that it was another inmate who may have killed Jeffrey
11:09Epstein.
11:10Come on.
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11:27OJ Simpson.
11:28He never really made an effort to get the glove on, so it was, the whole thing was a fiasco.
11:34Would you show that to the jury, Mr. Simpson?
11:36It was one of those rare definitional moments that only come a few times a decade.
11:41Americans were riveted by a slow-motion police chase unfolding live on television.
11:45OJ Simpson rode in the back of a white Ford Bronco as helicopters tracked the pursuit across Los Angeles highways.
11:51An estimated 95 million viewers tuned in as networks cut away from regular programming, including the NBA Finals.
11:58OJ Simpson is sitting in the back seat, and he has a gun at his head.
12:03And presumably, the officers in those four cars that are maintaining the pace.
12:09The chase lasted roughly 45 minutes.
12:11Crowds lined overpasses, cheering as if it were a parade.
12:14When Simpson was finally taken into custody at his Brentwood home, the arrest had already become a shared national experience.
12:20The image of the white Bronco remains one of the most iconic live media events in television history.
12:24The OJ Simpson murder case was the first true reality show for the country.
12:32Which arrests stopped you in your tracks?
12:34Let us know in the comments below.
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