"Squeaky" Fromme To Be Paroled, Served 34 Years

By Jeralyn, Section Inmates and Prisons
Posted on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 05:57:49 PM EST
Tags: Squeaky Fromme (all tags)

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Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme will be paroled on August 16, after serving 34 years for pointing a gun at President Gerald R. Ford. She is 60 years old.

The former Manson disciple (she was not part of the Tate/LaBianca murders) was eligible for parole in 1985 but did not request it. She was granted parole in 2008, but had to do extra time due to a separate sentence imposed for a 1987 escape attempt from a West Virginia prison. [More...]

Federal inmates serving life are generally paroled after 30 years, unless the parole commission decides to block the release, according to a commission spokesman. Inmates who are paroled remain under supervision until the commission decides to terminate the sentence.

Sara Jane Moore was released in 2007 after serving 32 years for her attempt on President Ford's life. She's 80 and doing just fine. Here's more on Squeaky in her own words from the Memoirs of Squeaky Fromme.

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"Squeaky" Fromme To Be Paroled, Served 34 Years | 34 comments (34 topical)

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Squeaky re Squeaky: (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by oculus on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 06:03:15 PM EST

She said she knew Ford was in town and near her, "and I said, 'I gotta go and talk to him,' and then I thought, 'That's foolish. He's not going to stop and talk to you.' People have already shown you can lay blood in front of them and they're not, you know, they don't think anything of it. I said, 'Maybe I'll take the gun,' and I thought, 'I have to do this. This is the time.' "
She said it never occurred to her that she could wind up in prison. Asked whether she had any regrets, Fromme said, "No. No, I don't. I feel it was fate." However, she said she thought that her incarceration was "unnecessary" and that she couldn't see herself repeating her offense.

Hope she will not be paroled to CA.

Odd. (5.00 / 2) (#6)
by Fabian on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 06:21:31 PM EST

Some people just never seem to graduate to the same mental state that the rest of us do. She sounds a bit...something. Autistic? Developmentally delayed? Sociopathic? As if she understands her point of view and her logic, but doesn't understand how it looks to anyone else. The rest of us find it quite alarming to have someone carry a gun into public and point it at someone to "get their attention".

Perhaps the incarceration was unnecessary - she may have benefited more from a proper diagnosis, treatment and possibly a supervised group home. I'm not a fan of prisons, but I think some people simply are not capable of being fully responsible adults and need supervision.

[ Parent ]

Asperger's Syndrome (5.00 / 2) (#16)
by Cream City on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 09:20:15 PM EST

possibly. It's on the autism spectrum. Some people here seem to have it. :-)

[ Parent ]

: Heh (5.00 / 1) (#19)
by gyrfalcon on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 11:58:09 PM EST

[ Parent ]
: Alito, too. (none / 0) (#28)
by Fabian on Thu Aug 06, 2009 at 07:32:53 AM EST

He was following the letter of the law (re: investments) and didn't appear to understand that appearance mattered as well.

[ Parent ]

Why? (none / 0) (#2)
by squeaky on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 06:12:29 PM EST

Are you worried about your property value declining should she choose to live near you?

[ Parent ]

Ah, you're here. (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 06:16:10 PM EST

Is your screen name an homage to Ms. Fromme?

[ Parent ]

: I have always wondered that. (none / 0) (#33)
by jimakaPPJ on Fri Aug 07, 2009 at 07:35:50 AM EST

[ Parent ]

Could this possibly be where (none / 0) (#3)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 06:13:23 PM EST

our very own squeaky chose her TL screen name?

No Relation (none / 0) (#5)
by squeaky on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 06:20:50 PM EST

Not my type, but I do believe that her sentence was unduly harsh. Obviously she wanted to go to jail, like father like son..

[ Parent ]

Agreed (5.00 / 1) (#9)
by kaleidescope on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 06:45:19 PM EST

If you read what she said, she wasn't really intending to kill Ford, she was trying to get attention for her cause. She got a harsh sentence because she was part of the Manson family. With Charles Manson in prison, Squeaky wasn't really a threat to anyone.

And Squeaky was ridiculously devoted to Manson, but no more so than devotees of more respectable looking religious nut cases.

[ Parent ]

Puhleeze. (none / 0) (#14)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 08:14:55 PM EST

[ Parent ]

Did You Read the Story Jeralyn Linked to? (none / 0) (#18)
by kaleidescope on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 10:18:44 PM EST

Squeaky had ejected the bullet from the chamber of the gun she pointed at Ford. The gun she pointed at him had a clip in it but it could not have fired at him because there was no bullet in the chamber.

Now I think she deserved to go to jail for what she did. So does anyone who points a gun at someone else, especially the president. But I don't think Squeaky was trying to kill Ford. And I don't think she deserved a life sentence.

Sentences in the U.S. are far longer and crueler than they need to be. They are far longer than in most other civilized countries and put the U.S. in the company of countries like China and Iran.

Credit to Eric Holder for pointing out that the American policy on incarceration is unsustainable in the long run.

And besides, we know that Gerald Ford died by being eaten by wolves or chopped to bits in the propeller of a small commuter aircraft. Oh, and that Tom Brokaw is gay.

[ Parent ]

A) Why do you want to believe her? (5.00 / 0) (#22)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Aug 06, 2009 at 12:35:12 AM EST

B) First trigger pull puts the next round into the chamber, 2nd trigger pull fires it.

C) She's had decades to create her spin-story - like everyone else in prison "she wuz framed"
(or something along those lines).

She aimed and pulled the trigger of a loaded gun at the POTUS.

Why DO you want to believe her at the expense of common sense?

Attempted murder/assassination.

The rest is just agenda-driven BS.

Puhleeze.

[ Parent ]

You Obviously Don't Know Weapons (5.00 / 1) (#31)
by kaleidescope on Thu Aug 06, 2009 at 09:56:17 PM EST

A .45 cal. pistol like Squeaky used does have a double action, but if there is no round in the chamber, nothing can happen. You pull the trigger and the double action draws the hammer back and the hammer comes down -- on an empty chamber. And the next time you pull the trigger exactly the same thing happens. That's because without a round firing, there's no force to push back the slide and advance a round into the chamber. You can manually pull back the slide, but simply pulling the trigger -- no matter how many times you do it -- will not put a round in the chamber.

What makes you think Squeaky pulled the trigger? I haven't ever seen that claimed. She pointed the gun at Ford and was tackled.

As for whether I believe her, the article itself made clear that the Manson family had done plenty of target practice and members were familiar with guns. In fact, when the Family was living at the Spahn Movie Ranch, one of Squeaky's jobs was to be the weapons master. Finally, when the gun was taken away from Squeaky, there wasn't a round in the chamber -- just like she said.

[ Parent ]

: Doesn't matter (none / 0) (#32)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Fri Aug 07, 2009 at 12:54:23 AM EST

if she pulled the trigger or not, imo. It's attempted murder/assassination either way.
However, because you challenged it, here's one of about a billion easily googleable references...
On Sept. 5, 1975, as Ford was on his way to address the California Legislature, Fromme was in the crowd, wearing a red dress, turban and purse. As Ford drew near, Fromme pulled a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol, aimed it at the president and pulled the trigger.
Witnesses nearby heard the "click" of the hammer dropping.

[ Parent ]

Did she discover Christ? (none / 0) (#23)
by oculus on Thu Aug 06, 2009 at 12:49:10 AM EST

: Good point. Maybe she is just misunderstood. ;-) (none / 0) (#24)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Aug 06, 2009 at 12:55:08 AM EST

I'm sure she'll be idolized if/when she returns to the SRSM (Socialist Republic of Santa Monica).

[ Parent ]

Agenda Driven? (none / 0) (#26)
by squeaky on Thu Aug 06, 2009 at 01:37:08 AM EST

After a lengthy trial in which she refused to cooperate with her own defense....

The former Manson disciple (she was not part of the Tate/LaBianca murders) was eligible for parole in 1985 but did not request it.

Sounds like her agenda was to be in jail, and stay for awhile.

[ Parent ]

: I was not referring to Fromme's agenda. (none / 0) (#30)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Aug 06, 2009 at 10:02:35 AM EST

[ Parent ]

Guess you never heard (none / 0) (#7)
by jondee on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 06:22:12 PM EST

of Tex Watson's older brother/mentor "Sarcastic" Watson.

[ Parent ]

You could not be more right. (none / 0) (#8)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 06:34:11 PM EST

: The power behind the throne (none / 0) (#10)
by jondee on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 06:46:01 PM EST

so to speak.

[ Parent ]

More than "pointing a gun", Jeralyn ... (none / 0) (#11)
by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 07:03:37 PM EST

... Lynette Fromme also pulled the trigger. Fortunately for President Ford and his country, it misfired. She was also quoted by witnesses as having lamented the fact that "it didn't go off!"

That said, Ms. Fromme has now paid her debt to society. And as long as she desires to live her life in peace, I sincerely hope that others will recognize that we are a nation of law, and thus afford her that simple courtesy.

Aloha.

From the CNN article (5.00 / 2) (#12)
by Jeralyn on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 07:15:13 PM EST

Fromme was convicted in 1975 of pointing a gun at then-President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California. Secret Service agents prevented her from firing, but the gun was later found to have no bullet in the chamber, although it contained a clip of ammunition.

Silly question (none / 0) (#13)
by nyjets on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 07:44:19 PM EST

Was there no bullet in chamber by accident or design? In other words, did she remove the bullet from the chamber herself or was it just dumb luck that there was no bullet in the chamber?

[ Parent ]

By Design (none / 0) (#17)
by squeaky on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 09:56:02 PM EST

Fromme subsequently 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.[9]
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 (prompted by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy) which specified a maximum sentence of life in prison for attempted presidential assassinations.

WiKi

[ Parent ]

: Works for me (none / 0) (#34)
by jimakaPPJ on Fri Aug 07, 2009 at 07:40:52 AM EST

Fromme subsequently told
No doubt. I believe. Yes indeed.

[ Parent ]

From the Time magazine cover story ... (none / 0) (#27)
by Donald from Hawaii on Thu Aug 06, 2009 at 04:27:23 AM EST

... in the same issue from which you posted its cover, dated September 15, 1975:

"As the President disappeared, Squeaky Fromme was shouting in her little-girl voice: 'He's not a public servant! He's not a public servant!' She also cried out: 'It didn't go off. Can you believe it? It didn't go off.'

"Why the gun could not go off quickly became clear when the Secret Service examined the 3-lb. Colt automatic. It was loaded with four bullets, but there was no bullet in the chamber ready to be fired (see diagram). To shoot the gun, Fromme would first have had to pull back the slide on top of the pistol, thus forcing a bullet from the clip up into the chamber. After the first shot was fired, the next bullet would have been automatically fed into the chamber.

"There is evidence that Fromme was doing her best to shoot the weapon that, at such close range, would almost certainly have killed the President. Some witnesses reported hearing a distinct clicking sound, which could have been made by the hammer snapping forward as she futilely pulled the trigger.

"In addition, there is the record of what happened to Agent Buendorf when he leaped into action. Instinctively, as he had been trained, Buendorf grabbed for the hammer of the gun, trying to interpose the web of skin between his right thumb and his right forefinger between the hammer and the firing pin. In the confusion, just what happened is not clear, but Buendorf came away with a cut between thumb and finger, as though he had been caught by the striking hammer."

(Emphasis is mine.)

[ Parent ]

I'm ok with this, (none / 0) (#15)
by BrassTacks on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 08:42:41 PM EST

As long as she isn't in my state. She sounds like she's as in need of mental health treatment as she was back when she was sentenced. I would feel safer for myself, my kids, and grandkids, if she wasn't in my state. I'm a bit concerned that her need for attention could result in another act of violence.

Color me selfish, I just don't want her around those who I love and care about.

I do hope that she gets the help that she needs. It's never too late to get treatment and grow emotionally.

NIMBY, eh? (none / 0) (#20)
by gyrfalcon on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 11:59:56 PM EST

Either she's harmless and should be let go, or she's not.

[ Parent ]

You're right (none / 0) (#21)
by BrassTacks on Thu Aug 06, 2009 at 12:15:37 AM EST

I would like more evidence that she's harmless. But if people in her state are ok with her release................

[ Parent ]

Born and raised in CA unfortunately. (none / 0) (#25)
by oculus on Thu Aug 06, 2009 at 12:58:07 AM EST

: I worry about CA more with the Governator (5.00 / 1) (#29)
by Dark Avenger on Thu Aug 06, 2009 at 08:30:52 AM EST

out and about than any possible threat Ms. Fromme poses to the general populace here.

[ Parent ]