In a week when many people are talking about political violence, it is ironic that Sara Jane Moore, the radical leftist who tried to assassinate Republican President Gerald Ford in 1975, passed away this week at the age of 95.
Moore was the second radical leftist to make an attempt on Ford’s life, the first being Charles Manson follower Lynette ‘Squeaky’ Fromme.
Moore was released from prison in 2005, despite being sentenced to life.
The New York Times reported:
Sara Jane Moore, Would-Be Assassin of President Ford, Dies at 95Sara Jane Moore, the middle-aged radical and mother of four who fired two errant shots at President Gerald R. Ford outside the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco on Sept. 22, 1975, with a vague notion of igniting a leftist revolution in America, died on Wednesday at a nursing home in Franklin, Tenn. She was 95.Demetria Kalodimos, a reporter for The Nashville Banner who had developed a friendship with Ms. Moore, confirmed the death, which was first reported by The Banner.Ms. Moore’s attempt to kill Mr. Ford occurred only 17 days after another would-be assassin, Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme, a follower of the cult leader Charles Manson, pointed a gun at the president in a crowd at Sacramento but was seized before she could fire.In San Francisco, about 3,000 people were gathered near Union Square for a glimpse of the president as he left the St. Francis Hotel. Ms. Moore, 45, who had been questioned by Secret Service agents the day before but then released, was standing across the street, 40 to 50 feet away from the commander in chief. She drew a chrome-plated .38-caliber revolver and fired at the president. The shot missed, and she raised the gun for a second shot.Oliver W. Sipple, a former Marine, deflected the gun just as she fired. The bullet narrowly missed the president, ricocheted off a wall and grazed a bystander. Pandemonium erupted as Mr. Ford, unhurt, was hustled into a limousine by Secret Service agents and sped away. Mr. Sipple and two police officers seized Ms. Moore.
CNN interviewed Moore in 2015. If you watch the video, you may notice Moore’s description of the left in 1975 is eerily similar to today.
In terms of Republicans, Ford was extremely moderate. It’s remarkable that he stirred such rage from the radical left.
Featured image via YouTube.
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