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Manson Follower Who Tried to Kill Ford Leaving Prison

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 5, 2009 6:53 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Squeaky Fromme is going free. The Manson follower who attempted to assassinate President Ford in 1975 is scheduled to be released from prison on Aug. 16, ABC News reports. Fromme, real name Lynette, pointed a pistol at Ford from about 2 feet away before an agent wrestled it away. Now 60, Fromme actually finished her term for the assassination attempt last year—this additional time is for a brief escape in 1987.

Her release will come just days after the 40th anniversary of the Manson group's grisly murder of Sharon Tate and nine others. Fromme wasn't implicated in those deaths, but she said she wanted to kill Ford in part to draw attention to Manson's quest for a new trial. After her arrest, authorities found that her gun had bullets in its magazine but none in the firing chamber, so it would not have gone off had she fired it.

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 9 comments
RobN
Aug 6, 2009 12:57 PM CDT
Anybody who tries to assassinate a president of the United States needs to spend the rest of their life behind bars. It needs to be a Go Directly to Jail, Do Not Pass Go situation.
Sonny_Crockett
Aug 6, 2009 12:54 PM CDT
Jesters are soooooo often misunderstood by the few, Reader.... Freedom of Speech ! JON STEWART RULZ !
armywife
Aug 6, 2009 12:22 PM CDT
i think her goal was not to assassinate ford, but to get herself arrested for an apparent assassination attempt, and then use that as a national platform to draw attention back to charles manson.
US

 
Gerald Ford • assassination attempt • Charles Manson • Manson Family • Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme

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