Arthur Bremer

From Metapedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Arthur Herman Bremer (born August 21, 1950) is a failed assassin who stalked President Richard Nixon and Governor George Wallace during the 1972 presidential campaign. On May 15, 1972 he shot U.S. Democratic presidential candidate George Wallace in Laurel, Maryland, leaving him paralyzed for life. He was sentenced to 63 years (53 years after an appeal) in a Maryland prison for the shooting of Wallace and three bystanders.

After 35 years of incarceration, Bremer was released from prison on parole on November 9, 2007.

Contents

[edit] Background

Arthur Bremer grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in a working-class and somewhat dysfunctional household. He did well in English and history at school and displayed a talent for writing, although his grades were generally mediocre. He scored 106 on an IQ test in high school, and around 114 on a test he took after his failed assassination attempt.[1]

Bremer was not rebellious as a youth and did not attract concern. Instead, he was an adolescent in emotional trouble whose problems were overlooked because they did not involve transgressions on which authorities focus. Despite his problems, he graduated from high school on January 28, 1969.[2]

[edit] Previous arrest

Bremer was arrested for the first time on November 18, 1971 for carrying a concealed weapon and for parking his car in a no-parking zone. After undergoing a psychiatric evaluation, he was fined for disorderly conduct a month later. Despite this, Bremer was still able to purchase a Charter Arms .38 caliber pistol on January 13, 1972 from Casanova Guns, Inc.

[edit] Planning an assassination

Bremer had been working as a janitor but quit on February 16, 1972. He also briefly pursued a relationship with a 16-year-old girl (later fictionally portrayed in the film Taxi Driver). Two weeks later, on March 1, he began his diary with the words, "It is my personal plan to assassinate by pistol either Richard Nixon or George Wallace". His purpose was "to do SOMETHING BOLD AND DRAMATIC, FORCEFUL & DYNAMIC, A STATEMENT of my manhood for the world to see".[3]

On March 23, Bremer attended a Wallace dinner and rally at Milwaukee's Red Carpet Airport Inn. On April 4, 1972, he flew to New York and stayed at the Waldorf Hotel. That evening, he appeared at a Wallace victory rally. On April 8, he slipped the weapon under a mat in the trunk of his car, but fell deep under the right wheel well and could not retrieve the gun. It was removed a week after Bremer's arrest when the car was dismantled.

On April 10 Bremer travelled to Ottawa and stayed at the Lord Elgin hotel. Four days later, Nixon made a public appearance in a limousine at Parliament Hill. Bremer, dressed in a business suit, wearing sunglasses and with a revolver in his pocket, hoped to assassinate the President but security was tight due to presence of Vietnam War protesters and Québecois nationalists. Ottawa police officers guarded the motorcade's path, making it impossible for anyone to get close to Nixon. Bremer was also unsure whether any bullets would go through the glass of Nixon's limousine. As a result, he did not open fire and the President sped past unharmed.

Bremer left Canada the following day, staying at the Sheraton Motor Inn in New Carrollton, Maryland for three days and later returned to Milwaukee. On May 4 Bermer decided to drop Nixon as a target and focused on assassinating Wallace.

[edit] Events leading up to the shooting

On May 8 Bremer left his Milwaukee apartment for what was to be the final time. He traveled east in a 1967 blue Rambler going to Maryland. On May 9 Bremer visited Wallace headquarters in Silver Spring and offered to work in the campaign. On the evening of May 10 he attended a Wallace rally in Cadillac, Michigan.

Bremer attended a Wallace rally on the evening of May 13 in Kalamazoo, which passed without incident. He had the chance to shoot his target, but did not. According to his diary, he passed up the opportunity because he might have shattered some glass and blinded some "stupid 15-year-olds" who stood nearby.

[edit] The shooting

Bremer turned up in Wheaton, Maryland for a noon appearance that Wallace was making at a shopping-center rally on May 15, 1972; he was dressed in dark glasses, patriotic red, white and blue and was wearing his new campaign button which said "WALLACE in '72". He strongly applauded everything Wallace said, which was in contrast with many others who heckled and taunted Wallace. Two tomatoes were thrown at Wallace during the rally, but missed. Based on this reception, Wallace refused to shake hands with those present, denying Bremer the opportunity to carry out his plan.

At a second rally, which took place at Laurel Shopping Center, 16 miles away, there was minor heckling early on but it did not last. About 1,000 people were present; they were mostly quiet and listened approvingly to what Wallace said. After he had finished speaking, Wallace shook hands with some of those present, against the advice of his Secret Service guards. At approximately 4:00 p.m., a few minutes after the rally ended, Bremer pushed his way forward, stuck his .38 revolver in Wallace's stomach and opened fire, emptying the weapon before he could be subdued.[1] He hit Wallace four times. Wallace lost a pint of blood and was in a mild state of shock. One bullet lodged in his spinal cord; the other bullets hit Wallace in the abdomen and chest. Three other people present were wounded accidentally: Alabama State Trooper Captain E C Dothard (Wallace's personal bodyguard), Dora Thompson (a campaign volunteer) and Nick Zarvos (a Secret Service agent). Zarvos was shot in the neck, and his speech was severely damaged following the shooting.

[edit] Aftermath

After Bremer's arrest, his apartment was searched. Found were Wallace campaign buttons, a Confederate flag on the floor, boxes of shells, Black Panther literature, a booklet entitled 101 Things To Do in Jail and various newspaper clippings, including one on the difficulty of providing security for campaigning politicians. In Bremer's diary were comments such as "My country tis of thee land of sweet bigotry", "Never say colored, say Negro, so here is a negro card", "My blood is black", "Cheer up Oswald", "White collared, male, suburban, democratic robot", "A Thundering of hooves and out of the western sky came the colored man" and "If I live tomorrow then it will be a long time".

Police described Bremer's car as a "hotel on wheels". In it they found blankets, pillows, binoculars, a woman's umbrella, a tape recorder, a portable radio with police band, an electric shaver, photographic equipment, a 1972 copy of a Writer's Yearbook, two books on the assassination of Robert Kennedy entitled Sirhan and RFK Must Die, and a Browning 9mm semiautomatic pistol. From 8 May 1972 to the day of his arrest Bremer had slept in his car.

His subsequent trial in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was condensed to a five-day morning to twilight event to accommodate presiding Judge Ralph W. Powers' upcoming vacation plans, and held only two and a half months after Bremer shot Wallace. The defense argued that Bremer was legally insane at the time of the shooting, and that he had "no emotional capacity to understand anything", but the jury rejected this argument after the prosecution countered that he was perfectly sane. Arthur Marshall, for the prosecution, told the court that Bremer, while obviously disturbed and in need of psychiatric treatment, as well as being full of hate and feelings of intense humiliation, was sane, knew what he was doing, had been seeking glory and was still sorry that Wallace had not died. Marshall said that Bremer "knew he would be arrested.... He knew he would be on trial."

On 4 August 1972 the jury of six men and six women took just over an hour and a half to reach their verdict. Bremer was sentenced to 63 years in prison for shooting Wallace and three other people. When asked if he had anything to say, Bremer replied, "Well, Mr. Marshall [the prosecutor] mentioned that he would like society to be protected from someone like me. Looking back on my life I would have liked it if society had protected me from myself. That’s all I have to say at this time."

The sentence was reduced to 53 years on 28 September after an appeal.

Part of Bremer's diary was published in 1973 as An Assassin's Diary. The remainder of his diary (pages 1-148) was found on August 26, 1980 where he had concealed it, heavily wrapped, at the foot of Milwaukee's 27th Street viaduct. In it, he discussed his hatred for Nixon (Wallace was clearly a secondary target); fantasized about killing unnamed individuals who angered him, or opening fire at random at the corner of 3rd Street and Wisconsin Avenue downtown; and confessed his admiration for Vel Phillips, a pioneering black officeholder of Milwaukee (who was elected and serving as Secretary of State of Wisconsin when the diary was found).

Despite the existence of many conspiracy theories, no one other than Bremer has ever been charged in connection with the shooting. One reason for talk of a conspiracy stemmed from the fact that Bremer's 1971 income tax return stated that he had earned only $1,611, bringing up the question of how Bremer paid for his travels while stalking Nixon and later Wallace. Another theory was based on the owner of Bremer's apartment building allowing reporters into the alleged assassin's apartment the night of the shooting. Some journalists were later seen leaving with items from Bremer's apartment. According to "The Politics of Rage" by Dan T. Carter, a report about Wallace's life, Bremer had saved $1,500 dollars when he lived at home with his parents. By the time he shot Wallace, all he had left was $1.73. It appears this was how he financed his travels between March and May 1972.

Wallace forgave Bremer in August 1995 and wrote to him[4] expressing the hope that the two could get to know each other better. Part of Wallace's letter said:

"Dear Arthur, your shooting me in 1972 caused me a lot of discomfort and pain. I am a born-again Christian. I love you. I have asked our Heavenly Father to touch your heart, and I hope that you will ask him for forgiveness of your sin so you can go to heaven like I am going to heaven. I hope that we can get to know each other better. We have heard of each other a long time" and "Please let Jesus Christ be your savior".

Bremer did not reply. The former Alabama governor died on September 13, 1998.

[edit] Release

Bremer served his sentence at the Maryland Correctional Institution (MCI-H) in Hagerstown, Maryland. He was originally scheduled to be released in 2025 at the age of 75. According to 1997 parole records, psychological testing indicated releasing him would be risky. He argued in his June 1996 hearing that "Shooting segregationist dinosaurs wasn't as bad as harming mainstream politicians".[5] Bremer was released from prison on Friday, November 9, 2007, at the age of 57, having served 35 years of his original sentence. His spotless prison record qualified him for mandatory early release under Maryland law.[6] His probation ends in 2025.

Bremer is in a halfway house in Cumberland, Maryland. Conditions of his release include electronic monitoring and staying away from elected officials and candidates. He must undergo a mental health evaluation and receive treatment if the state deems it necessary, and may not leave the state without written permission from the state agency that will supervise him until the end of his probation.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ American Assassins: The Darker Side of Politics by James K. Clarke
  2. ^ New York Times 17 May 1972
  3. ^ An Assassin's Diary, published 1973
  4. ^ "Pope-Wallace meeting remembered", The Decatur Daily, Decatur, Alabama. April 6, 2005. URL retrieved on December 23, 2006.
  5. ^ "Mourners praise George Wallace at vigil", Cable News Network, Inc. (CNN). September 16, 1998. URL retrieved on December 23, 2006.
  6. ^ Template:Cite news
  7. ^ Smith, Maria. "Ministry Takes In Shooter" Cumberland Times-News, Nov. 15, 2007

[edit] External links


Part of this article consists of modified text from Wikipedia, and the article is therefore licensed under GFDL.
Retrieved from "http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Bremer"
Personal tools