Sarah Jane Moore, 95, Dies After Infamous Assassination Attempt
Sarah Jane Moore, remembered for her attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford in 1975, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 95 in a nursing home in Franklin, Tennessee. She had been released from prison in 2007 and had moved to the area in 2022.
Moore fired two shots at Ford on September 22, 1975, while he was outside the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Reports indicate that she missed her target by just six inches with her first shot, and was subsequently tackled while trying to take a second shot. Though a taxi driver was injured by a ricochet, Ford was unharmed.
After her arrest, Moore reportedly told San Francisco police that had she possessed a .44 caliber weapon, she could have succeeded in her assassination attempt. Her life had been marked by complexities long before this event; just weeks after her arrest, it was revealed she had previously worked as an informant for the FBI, providing information on various leftist groups she was involved with.
Her motivations seemed to stem from a confluence of radical ideas and a belief in the need for political upheaval. She once stated that the assassination was a means to spark a revolution, particularly focusing on Ford, who she believed was the only president truly elected by the people. This ideology informed her actions, though it’s a peculiar notion to grasp now.
In an interview with CNN in 2015, Moore described how her thinking had evolved during her decades in prison. Despite her past, she claimed to have always been a good citizen, a statement that raises eyebrows given her lengthy incarceration. She shared her reflections on the assassination attempt while watching political events unfold in more recent years, including coverage of Donald Trump’s rallies.
“It’s been a long time, I didn’t consciously think about it,” she remarked from her hospital bed, reflecting on the events. “It happened, so that happened,” adding that life went on, albeit at a cost. Her story encapsulates a blend of personal reflection and the tumultuous nature of political activism gone awry.
