Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme’s assassination attempt on President Gerald Ford took place on the morning of September 5, 1975, in Sacramento’s Capitol Park, when the former Charles Manson follower pointed a loaded Colt .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol at the president from arm’s length and pulled the trigger. The gun did not fire. A Secret Service agent wrenched the weapon from her hand within seconds, and Fromme was convicted in federal court of attempting to kill the president, sentenced to life in prison, and paroled in August 2009 after nearly 34 years behind bars.
What Happened in Capitol Park
Ford was walking from his hotel toward the California State Capitol for a meeting with Governor Jerry Brown, stopping to shake hands with well-wishers along the way. Fromme, then 26, stepped out of the crowd wearing a hand-sewn, Red Riding Hood-style red cloak. Strapped to her leg was a Colt .45 semiautomatic. She drew it and raised it toward the president.1Sacramento Bee. Squeaky Fromme Assassination Attempt in Sacramento
Secret Service Agent Larry Buendorf, walking at Ford’s left shoulder, saw the pistol come up. He shouted “Gun!”, stepped in front of the president, and wrested the weapon away.2New York Times. Larry Buendorf, Agent Who Saved President Ford Other agents, a Sacramento police officer, and bystanders tackled Fromme to the ground. Witnesses heard her say, “It didn’t go off,” and “He’s not a public servant.”3Los Angeles Times. The Manson Follower Who Tried to Kill a President and the Man Who Stopped Her Ford was rushed to the Capitol and then to McClellan Air Force Base, where he boarded Air Force One for Washington.
Buendorf later said the moment moved too fast to process. “You try to put it into slow motion, and there’s no slow motion about it,” he recalled.4FOX40. Agent Recalls the Moment He Saved President Ford’s Life in Sacramento
Why She Did It
Fromme met Charles Manson on Venice Beach in Los Angeles after a troubled adolescence and a falling-out with her father.5CBS News. My Private Letters From Squeaky Fromme She became one of his most devoted followers, and after the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders, which she was never charged in, she effectively led what remained of the group.6NBC News. Squeaky Fromme Released From Prison She shaved her head and carved an “X” into her forehead in solidarity with Manson during his trial.
By 1975 she was living in Sacramento with fellow Manson follower Sandra Good. The two wore red robes they said represented the “blood of the sacrifice” and claimed membership in a group they called the “International People’s Court,” which they said had issued death threats against officials and corporate executives tied to environmental destruction.7Time. Violence: The Girl Who Almost Killed Ford
At her arraignment, Fromme demanded the judge halt logging of California’s redwoods. “The important part is the redwood trees. We want to save them. Do you understand this is like cutting down your own arms and legs?” she said.3Los Angeles Times. The Manson Follower Who Tried to Kill a President and the Man Who Stopped Her She had circulated writings before the attempt warning that “if Nixon’s reality — wearing a new Ford face — continues to run the country against the law, our homes will be bloodier than the Tate-LaBianca houses and My Lai put together.” Investigators found no evidence that Manson or anyone else ordered the act.
A Second Attempt 17 Days Later
Fromme’s attempt was not the only one Ford survived that month. On September 22, 1975, Sara Jane Moore fired a .38-caliber revolver at Ford as he left the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. The shot missed; a bystander grabbed her arm before she could fire again, and the second round ricocheted and struck a taxi driver.8Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. A Reluctant Hero Moore pleaded guilty and received a life sentence; she was paroled in 2007 and died in 2025.9BBC News. Sara Jane Moore, Who Tried to Kill President Ford
After the second attempt, the Secret Service tightened intelligence operations, and Ford was fitted with a bulletproof trench coat containing a Kevlar vest weighing more than six pounds. “It bothered me and I certainly would have preferred not to do it but I felt it my obligation,” he later said.10Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Squeaky
The Trial and Life Sentence
Fromme was charged under 18 U.S.C. § 1751 with attempting to kill the president, a federal offense carrying a potential life sentence.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. § 1751 – Presidential and Presidential Staff Assassination, Kidnapping, and Assault She was held on a $1 million bond, a record at the time for Sacramento federal court.1Sacramento Bee. Squeaky Fromme Assassination Attempt in Sacramento Court-appointed attorney John Virga represented her before Federal District Judge Thomas J. MacBride. She pleaded not guilty, arguing the gun was not cocked and she never intended to shoot.12History.com. Squeaky Fromme Sentenced to Life
Her behavior in court was disruptive. She demanded Manson be brought in to testify. “Manson and that family is my own heartbeat… it’s going to get bloody if they are not allowed to speak,” she said. She eventually refused to leave her cell, had to be carried into the courtroom wearing a red bandanna tied over her eyes, and was ordered removed. She boycotted the rest of the trial.13Time. Trials: Fromme’s Fate
Virga had subpoenaed Ford as a witness. A compromise was reached: on November 1, 1975, Ford testified by videotape at the Old Executive Office Building in Washington, and the recording was played for the jury on November 15. It was the first time a sitting U.S. president testified in a criminal trial by videotaped deposition.14Library of Congress. President Ford’s Videotaped Testimony
MacBride also found that prosecutors had withheld statements from a witness named James Damir, calling it “not a model of prosecutorial conduct” and recessing the trial so Virga could reorganize. He denied Fromme’s motion to dismiss. On December 17, 1975, the jury convicted her, and MacBride sentenced her to life, concluding she was “unfit for a lesser sentence that would have involved possible rehabilitation.” At sentencing, after U.S. Attorney Dwayne Keyes called her full of “hate and violence,” Fromme threw an apple that struck him in the head.15New York Times. Miss Fromme Gets Life in Ford Attack
Prison, Escape, and Parole
Fromme served her sentence at the Alderson Federal Correctional Institution in West Virginia, then a minimum-security facility. On the night of December 23, 1987, she scaled an eight-foot fence topped with barbed wire and slipped past two perimeter guard vehicles, dressed against mid-twenties temperatures in a peacoat, two pairs of pants, and a knitted ski cap.16Washington Post. Squeaky Fromme Recaptured Two Miles From W.Va. Prison She was at large for about two days. On Christmas morning, two prison employees found her emerging from woods about two miles south of the facility. She did not resist.17New York Times. Fromme Seized Near the Prison That She Fled She was transferred to the Lexington Federal Correctional Institution in Kentucky, and the escape delayed her eventual release by more than a year.18West Virginia Encyclopedia. Lynette Fromme
Fromme was granted parole in July 2008 on the basis of “good conduct time,” because she had been sentenced in an era when federal parole was still available. On August 14, 2009, at age 60, she walked out of the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, after nearly 34 years in custody.19CNN. Squeaky Fromme Released From Prison The U.S. Parole Commission required her to check in with a parole officer within 72 hours and then at least monthly, with standard conditions including no association with convicted criminals, no firearms, and no leaving a designated area.20ABC News. Squeaky Fromme Released From Prison Within weeks she had settled in Marcy, a rural town in Oneida County, New York.21CNY Central. Lynette Squeaky Fromme to Settle in Marcy
Still Loyal to Manson
Decades after her conviction, Fromme has never distanced herself from Manson. She has maintained he was misunderstood and insisted he never ordered her to do anything violent.22ABC News. Manson Follower on Murders: I Don’t Think You Fall Out of Love In a 2019 ABC interview at age 70, she said: “Was I in love with Charlie? Yeah, oh yeah, oh, I still am, still am. I don’t think you fall out of love.” She added, “I feel very honored to have met him, and I know how that sounds to people who think he’s the epitome of evil.”23Oxygen. Lynette Squeaky Fromme Says She’s Still in Love With Charles Manson Manson died in prison in November 2017 at age 83.
In 2018 she published a memoir, Reflexion, about her years with Manson from 1967 through the 1969 murders. A revised edition appeared in 2022 from Peasenhal Press.24ThriftBooks. Reflexion Revised Edition