Gerald Ford's Would-Be SF Assassin Freed On Parole

Former president Gerald Ford died almost exactly a year ago today, which makes it that much more notable that Sara Jane Moore, one of his two would-be assassins, was released from prison on parole this morning, after serving 32 years of a life imprisonment sentence.

As we discussed last year, Sara Jane Moore, a disgraced SLA member, attempted to kill Gerald Ford outside the St. Francis Hotel on Sept. 22, 1978. As she prepared to fire two shots, an alert bystander named Oliver Sipple (who had a subsequent sad story of his own) deflected her arm, and she missed Ford entirely. Moore's attempt was made a little over two weeks after Manson Family member Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme's more famous assassination attempt on Ford in Sacramento.

Moore is now 77 years old, and her parole requests, made every two years since 1985, was finally granted this year. The prison doesn't know where Moore went after being released. For what it's worth, Fromme is still in prison in Texas.

Picture of Ford reacting to Moore's gunshots, from the Ford Presidential Library.