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"Squeaky" Fromme To Be Paroled, Served 34 Years

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 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
    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
    Hope she will not be paroled to CA.

    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
    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

    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
    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
    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
    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
    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