Ford’s 1975 would-be assassin released

After 32 years in jail, a would-be assassin of US president Gerald Ford has finally been released. Sara Jane Moore, who is now 77, claimed she was protesting against her government's persecution of the American Left when she shot a 38-calibre handgun at Ford (pictured) from 40 feet on September 22, 1975. As she took aim outside the St Francis hotel in San Francisco, she was spotted by Oliver Sipple, a veteran of the Vietnam war. He dived at Moore as she fired, pushing her so that her shot missed Ford by five feet. The bullet ricocheted from a wall to injure a bystander, leaving a pockmark which can still be seen today.

Bizarrely, it was the second assassination attempt on the Republican president that month. On September 5, a mentally disturbed follower of jailed murderer Charles Manson, infamous for his 'Family' cult, disguised herself as a nun with a pistol strapped to her leg. Lynnette 'Squeaky' Fromme pulled her trigger at Ford from point-blank range, but there was no bullet in the chamber of her gun.

Sara Jane Moore first came into contact with the far Left working for newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst when he was negotiating with the Symbionese Liberation Army who had kidnapped his daughter Patty Hearst. Famously, Patty Hearst became sympathetic to her kidnappers' cause, and took part in a robbery with them. Moore seems also to have come under the influence of the SLA through contact with them on Hearst's behalf. She also began working as an informant for the FBI at this time – and would later claim the bureau planned to kill her. She seemed to imply that her attack on Ford was a pre-emptive strike.

It is thought that Moore, who had been married five times, suffered from psychological problems and was under stress at the time of the shooting. Asked if she regretted the attempted assassination, she said: "Yes and no. Yes, because it accomplished little except to throw away the rest of my life. And no, because at the time it seemed a correct expression of my anger." Twenty-two years ago she made her first application for parole, but it was only on Monday that she was considered not to be a risk to society any longer.

Ford, who became president when Richard Nixon was forced to resign, lost the only election he fought as a presidential candidate to Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1977. Ford died on December 26, 2006.