It’s been 50 years since the President Ford assassination attempt in Sacramento
Fifty years ago, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme made local and national headlines for an assassination attempt on President Gerald R. Ford in Sacramento’s Capitol Park.
Ford was on his way to meet then Gov. Jerry Brown when Fromme, within close range, withdrew a Colt .45-caliber pistol from a leg holster and pulled the trigger, according to previous reporting by The Sacramento Bee. No round fired.
A Secret Service agent, a Sacramento police officer and bystanders wrestled Fromme to the ground.
Fromme was described in the following day’s Sacramento Bee, on Sept. 6, 1975, as a “disciple of mass slayer Charles Manson. She had moved to an attic apartment at 1725 P St. in Sacramento to be near Manson, who was housed in Folsom Prison for his role in the 1969 murders of actress Sharon Tate and others.
Fromme was charged with “willingly and knowingly” attempting to assassinate the president and held in Sacramento Main Jail on a $1 million bond, which was a record-setting amount for a defendant in Sacramento federal court.
Fromme was later convicted of attempting to kill the president and sentenced to life in prison, according to previous reporting.
Five years after Fromme’s conviction, she told Bee reporter Wayne Wilson she had not planned on killing the president.
“I was not determined to kill the guy,” Fromme said.
She was released on parole in 2009 and moved to upstate New York.
In 2014, released of a recording of Fromme’s psychiatric examination while she was awaiting trial. This recording was made public following pressure legal from The Bee.
This story was originally published September 5, 2025 at 3:10 PM with the headline "It’s been 50 years since the President Ford assassination attempt in Sacramento."
