Chapter 1: September 5, 1975: The Day the World Stopped.....
10:20 AM PST, Friday, September 5, 1975
Sacramento, California
Chaos following the shooting.
The decision was made. Squeaky Fromme decided a few days earlier that President Gerald Rudolph Ford needed to be stopped by any means necessary. However, from the bright red dress she chose to wear on that day, it was quite obvious she would be standing out in the crowd. Nobody would ever think in a million years that the Charlie Manson devotee would ever pose a threat to the President, who was just in office for barely a year (having assumed the Presidency on August 9, 1974 following Nixon's resignation in disgrace due to the Watergate Scandal). The President was out of Washington, DC for a couple of days, making several appearances across the country promoting the upcoming Bicentennial celebrations of America's Independence Day while at the same time, squeezing a couple of campaign fundraisers for his reelection campaign as many Ford loyalists realized that the battle for the 1976 Republican nomination against former California Governor Ronald Reagan (R) would be very ugly and downright bitter....
Now back to the circumstances leading up to September 5, 1975: President Ford had already made a few stops in Seattle, Spokane, Washington and Portland, Oregon before making a final swing through Sacramento, California: the President was still bristling with lots of energy. The former college football player from the University of Michigan was a very physically active man and insisted (despite pleas from senior staff members to consider riding in the Presidential limousine) on walking down the street from the Senator Hotel (where he was staying overnight) to the State Capitol building in downtown Sacramento, where he was scheduled to meet with California Governor Jerry Brown (D).
He had no idea of the danger awaiting him.......
Fromme had quickly become a follower of the infamous Charlie Manson and his sadistic cult. Even though she didn't participate in the Tate-LaBianca murders of 1969, Squeaky's presence in the following trial had caused a stir when she and other Manson followers had carved X's into their foreheads (don't ask me how, but I think it was creepy).
More troubles continued to follow Squeaky as she was questioned for a murder of one of the Aryan Nations' neo-Nazi members after it was revealed he had been in talks with law enforcement. She wasn't charged with the murder, but once again: she managed to slip through the cracks. It was during this time that Squeaky and a few other Manson associates moved to Sacramento in order to be closer to Charlie, who was serving his prison sentence at the Folsom prison. Word on the street is that Manson had given Squeaky the order to kill the President of the United States. She had no choice, but follow orders....
Here came the moment! Armed with a Colt M1911 holstered to her thigh, Squeaky slipped once again (how did this nutjob got through the cracks is beyond me) into the crowd of well-wishers. Hearing cheers from the crowd, "I have to do this for Charlie. It's my duty. Time to send a message to the government!" had arose as the presidential entourage began shuffling out of the Senator Hotel, and within a matter of seconds, the target (President Ford) was already in sight. A gaggle of Secret Service agents began pushing through the throngs of well-wishers in the crowd as State Troopers from the California Highway Patrol had formed a human chain in order to keep the bulk of the large masses away.
Squeaky's heart started pounding quick as adrenaline flowed all throughout her body; she locked eyes with the 38th President of the United States, and he in turn locked eyes with the attractive young strawberry blonde in the obvious bright red dress. He moved with his hand extended to grasp her hand for a handshake, but instead of reaching out to shake his hand, Squeaky reached into that red dress.....
Taking out her pistol and within a matter of micro-seconds raised the pistol upwards towards the President. This was her chance in sending a message. This was her sacrifice. In a slow-motion moment, the leader of the free world stood face-to-face with the woman who was there to not only kill him but alter the course of American history. President Ford didn't even have time to realize the danger he was facing.....
Without any hesitation, Squeaky aimed at the target and pulled the trigger.
BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!
President Ford collapsing into the arms of Secret Service agents after being hit just seconds before a sniper shot struck him in the backside of his head...
One of the Secret Service agents heard the gunshots, even though it dropped like a pin drop that abruptly stopped the sea of cheers and applause. He turned around fast from the well-wishers to see Squeaky shooting the President four times: three in the chest and once in the abdomen, seeing the President collapse, then horror before his very eyes, seeing the horrific head shot (it was a second shooter who fired the fifth shot from a balcony somewhere in the area), which blew out the backside of the President's head: causing lots of blood and brain matter to splatter all over everyone: several Secret Service agents and some well-wishers in the crowd, causing a young teenage girl to scream at the sight of brain matter all over her dress. Agent Larry Buendorf attempted to push Squeaky into the ground and grab the gun away from her, but she managed to punch him in the left side of his stomach, grabbing back her gun and firing at Buendorf three times. One of the California State Troopers had then ran towards the commotion in order to stop Squeaky, who shot him as well twice in the left shoulder as she ran away, which didn't last long before two Secret Service agents aggressively slammed her to the ground, pinning her hard as she was being handcuffed.
Squeaky was satisfied with what she did "I did it. I sent a message to the government and I did it for Charlie" smiling while she was being put into a police vehicle. In the meantime, Secret Service agents repeatedly tried speaking with President Ford, who was unconscious (it was real bad regarding the severity of the gunshot wounds) inside the ambulance as paramedics worked furiously to save his life. "Let's go to the fucking hospital now dammit" one of the Presidential Secret Service detail agents snapped as the ambulance followed by accompanying vehicles such as the Secret Service drove fast all the way toward Mercy General Hospital.
