Squeaky Fromme
On September 5, 1975 (37 years ago today) Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a member of the famed "Manson Family", attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California.
On the morning of September 5, 1975, Fromme went to Sacramento's Capitol Park. She intended to plead with President Ford about the plight of the California redwoods. She was dressed in a nun-like red robe and was armed with a M1911A1 .45 Colt semi-automatic pistol. The pistol's magazine was loaded with four rounds, but there was no bullet in the firing chamber. Fromme pointed the gun at Ford and squeezed the trigger. She was immediately restrained by Larry Buendorf, a Secret Service agent, who managed to insert the webbing of his thumb under the hammer, preventing the gun from firing. While being further restrained and handcuffed, Fromme said to the on-scene cameras that the gun "didn't go off". She later told The Sacramento Bee that she had deliberately ejected the cartridge in her weapon's chamber before leaving home that morning, and investigators later found a .45 ACP cartridge in her bathroom.
After a lengthy trial in which she refused to cooperate with her own defense, she was convicted of the attempted assassination of the president and received a life sentence under a 1965 law which made attempted presidential assassinations a federal crime punishable by a maximum sentence of life in prison. When US Attorney Duane Keyes recommended severe punishment because she was "full of hate and violence," Fromme threw an apple at him, hitting him in the face and knocking off his glasses.
In speaking about the assassination attempt, Fromme said "I stood up and waved a gun (at Ford) for a reason. I was so relieved not to have to shoot it, but, in truth, I came to get life. Not just my life but clean air, healthy water and respect for creatures and creation."
Seventeen days after Fromme's arrest, Sara Jane Moore attempted to assassinate Ford outside the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Moore was restrained by bystander Oliver Sipple, a decorated veteran, and the single shot fired from her gun slightly injured taxi driver John Ludwig, who was standing inside the hotel.
In 1979, Fromme was transferred out of Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin in Dublin, California, for attacking a fellow inmate, Julienne Bušić, with the claw-end of a hammer. On December 23, 1987, she escaped from the Federal Prison Camp, Alderson in Alderson, West Virginia, attempting to meet Manson, whom she had heard had testicular cancer. She was captured again two days later and incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas.
Fromme first became eligible for parole in 1985, and was entitled by federal law to a mandatory hearing after 30 years but could waive that hearing and apply for release at a later date. Fromme waived her right to request a hearing and was required by federal law to complete a parole application before one could be considered and granted. Fromme was granted parole in July 2008, but was not released due to the extra time added to her sentence for the 1987 prison escape. She was released on parole from Federal Medical Center, Carswell on August 14, 2009. She then moved to Marcy, New York where she now resides.
Lynette Fromme's story is one of nine told in Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's musical "Assassins." In the musical, the characters Fromme and John Hinckley, Jr. appear in the duet "Unworthy of Your Love".
On the morning of September 5, 1975, Fromme went to Sacramento's Capitol Park. She intended to plead with President Ford about the plight of the California redwoods. She was dressed in a nun-like red robe and was armed with a M1911A1 .45 Colt semi-automatic pistol. The pistol's magazine was loaded with four rounds, but there was no bullet in the firing chamber. Fromme pointed the gun at Ford and squeezed the trigger. She was immediately restrained by Larry Buendorf, a Secret Service agent, who managed to insert the webbing of his thumb under the hammer, preventing the gun from firing. While being further restrained and handcuffed, Fromme said to the on-scene cameras that the gun "didn't go off". She later told The Sacramento Bee that she had deliberately ejected the cartridge in her weapon's chamber before leaving home that morning, and investigators later found a .45 ACP cartridge in her bathroom.
After a lengthy trial in which she refused to cooperate with her own defense, she was convicted of the attempted assassination of the president and received a life sentence under a 1965 law which made attempted presidential assassinations a federal crime punishable by a maximum sentence of life in prison. When US Attorney Duane Keyes recommended severe punishment because she was "full of hate and violence," Fromme threw an apple at him, hitting him in the face and knocking off his glasses.
In speaking about the assassination attempt, Fromme said "I stood up and waved a gun (at Ford) for a reason. I was so relieved not to have to shoot it, but, in truth, I came to get life. Not just my life but clean air, healthy water and respect for creatures and creation."
Seventeen days after Fromme's arrest, Sara Jane Moore attempted to assassinate Ford outside the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Moore was restrained by bystander Oliver Sipple, a decorated veteran, and the single shot fired from her gun slightly injured taxi driver John Ludwig, who was standing inside the hotel.
In 1979, Fromme was transferred out of Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin in Dublin, California, for attacking a fellow inmate, Julienne Bušić, with the claw-end of a hammer. On December 23, 1987, she escaped from the Federal Prison Camp, Alderson in Alderson, West Virginia, attempting to meet Manson, whom she had heard had testicular cancer. She was captured again two days later and incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas.
Fromme first became eligible for parole in 1985, and was entitled by federal law to a mandatory hearing after 30 years but could waive that hearing and apply for release at a later date. Fromme waived her right to request a hearing and was required by federal law to complete a parole application before one could be considered and granted. Fromme was granted parole in July 2008, but was not released due to the extra time added to her sentence for the 1987 prison escape. She was released on parole from Federal Medical Center, Carswell on August 14, 2009. She then moved to Marcy, New York where she now resides.
Lynette Fromme's story is one of nine told in Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's musical "Assassins." In the musical, the characters Fromme and John Hinckley, Jr. appear in the duet "Unworthy of Your Love".