True Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Stories Part VI

Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme: Plot to Assassinate President Ford

On September 5, 1975, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a member of the Manson Family cult, attempted to assassinate United States President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California. Fromme, who was standing a little more than an arm's length from Ford, pointed a M1911 pistol at him in the public grounds of the California State Capitol building and without chambering a round in the gun, unsuccessfully attempted to fire.

After the assassination attempt, Ford continued to walk to the California State House, where he met with Governor Jerry Brown. For her crime, Fromme spent 34 years in prison and was released on August 14, 2009—two years and seven months after Ford's death. The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, later received the M1911 pistol used in the assassination attempt as a gift, and the gun was put on display.

History

Lynette Fromme, who was nicknamed "Squeaky" by George Spahn, was a follower of cultist Charles Manson, leader of the group convicted of murdering actress Sharon Tate and eight others in Los Angeles, California, in 1969. Fromme was one of the earliest followers of Manson and had a reputation as being one of the most devoted. Through the years, Fromme assumed a leadership role in keeping Manson cult members in communication with each other after most of them had been imprisoned.

In April 1971, Fromme served 90 days in jail for attempting to feed a hamburger laced with the psychedelic drug LSD to Barbara Hoyt, a witness to the Tate murder, to keep Hoyt from testifying in the murder trial. Fromme lived at 1725 P Street in Sacramento (38°34′16″N 121°29′09″W) in an attic apartment with Sandra Good, a close friend who also was a long-time member of the Manson Family. Four years later in 1975, Fromme wanted to confront President Ford on the environmental pollution his campaign brought forth and its effects on ATWA (air, trees, water, animals).

Events leading towards the assassination attempt

In July 1975, California's relatively new governor, Democrat Jerry Brown, refused to commit to speak at the 49th annual Sacramento "Host Breakfast," an annual gathering of wealthy California business leaders to be held in the Sacramento Convention Center on the morning of September 5, 1975. To teach Brown a political lesson, for what he would describe more than 30 years later as a "dilatory response" to the invitation, the politically powerful group invited U.S. President Ford, a Republican, to make the September 5, 1975, morning speech instead. Ford saw California's electoral votes as critical to his success in the 1976 United States presidential election and accepted the invitation to speak at the Host Breakfast.

In early August 1975, The New York Times reported that the United States Environmental Protection Agency had released a study entitled "A Spectroscopic Study of California Smog," showing that smog was widespread in rural areas. The New York Times article also noted how President Ford had just asked the United States Congress to relax provisions of the 1963 Clean Air Act beyond the 1970 Clean Air Act amendments and provided details on Ford's upcoming September trip to California. After learning of Ford's upcoming visit, ex-convict Thomas Elbert was arrested on August 18 in response to Elbert phoning the United States Secret Service and threatening to kill Ford when he visited Sacramento.

At about the same time, Fromme came to believe that California's giant coastal redwoods, the tallest trees in the world, were in danger of falling because of automobile smog reaching their rural location. Feeling personally responsible for the fate of the redwoods, Fromme traveled to San Francisco to meet with a San Francisco government official to save the trees from pollution. After returning from San Francisco, Fromme watched a news report from her P Street apartment and learned some details of Ford's plans to visit Sacramento. The hotel Ford would be staying at, the Senator Hotel, was located a little more than one-half mile (0.80 km)—about fifteen minutes walking distance—from Fromme's Sacramento apartment. At this point, Fromme decided to bring attention to the trees by putting fear into the government by killing its symbol, President Ford. Fromme said that her decision was rooted in her desire "to get a life. Not just my life but clean air, healthy water," and respect for creatures and creation.