Would-Be Wallace Killer Walks Free

Shooter served 35 years for 1972 assassination attempt
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 9, 2007 10:50 AM CST
Would-Be Wallace Killer Walks Free
Former four-term Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace makes a public appearance at Dannelly Elementary School in Montgomery, Ala., in this May 22, 1996, file photo. Arthur H. Bremer, who shot Alabama Gov. George Wallace during a presidential campaign stop in 1972 is scheduled to be released from a Maryland...   (Associated Press)

The man who tried to assassinate George Wallace in 1972 walked free from prison today after serving 35 years of his 53-year sentence. Arthur Bremer opened fire on the Alabama governor as he campaigned for president in Maryland, leaving him paralyzed. Before he died in 1998, the onetime segregationist wrote to Bremer saying he had forgiven him, the Washington Post reports.

Bremer had targeted Richard Nixon and George McGovern, and the 21-year-old busboy wrote in his diary that he was disappointed to settle for a lesser light. He hasn’t spoken publicly since his trial. Three others were wounded by Bremer’s bullets, including a Secret Service agent who says he’s satisfied that justice has been served. (More assassination attempt stories.)

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