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Shooter of George Wallace Set Free after 35 Years
by
findingDulcinea Staff
On November 9, 2007, Arthur Bremer was released 17 years early for being a ‘model inmate'; he was originally sentenced to 53 years.
30-Second Summary
On May 15, 1972, Arthur Bremer shot and paralyzed former Alabama Governor and Presidential candidate George Wallace at a campaign stop in Laurel, Maryland.
Although Bremer was released early for good behavior, while in prison he refused psychiatric treatment. Some, including Wallace’s son, are concerned that Bremer is mentally unstable. “While he has complied with the laws of Maryland,” says Wallace, “is he as stable as you would want?”
The former Governor of Alabama, Wallace was notorious for his hard-line segregationist views. He reluctantly allowed the entry of two African-American students into the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, which was the last all-white state university at the time.
In his 1963 inaugural gubernatorial speech, Wallace proclaimed, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever,” a phrase that would later haunt Wallace in his public life.
George Wallace died on Sept. 13, 1998.
Although Bremer was released early for good behavior, while in prison he refused psychiatric treatment. Some, including Wallace’s son, are concerned that Bremer is mentally unstable. “While he has complied with the laws of Maryland,” says Wallace, “is he as stable as you would want?”
The former Governor of Alabama, Wallace was notorious for his hard-line segregationist views. He reluctantly allowed the entry of two African-American students into the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, which was the last all-white state university at the time.
In his 1963 inaugural gubernatorial speech, Wallace proclaimed, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever,” a phrase that would later haunt Wallace in his public life.
George Wallace died on Sept. 13, 1998.
Headlines: Arthur Bremer released, concerns over his release
Thirty-five years after shooting and paralyzing Alabama Governor and Presidential candidate George Wallace, Arthur H. Bremer was released from a Hagerstown, Maryland prison. Bremer was released early for good behavior; he had originally been sentenced to fifty-three years. As part of his release, Bremer must avoid political candidates and elected officials, and wear an electric monitoring device.
Source: Baltimore Sun
Although George Wallace forgave Arthur Bremer, his son, George Wallace III has not and questions the mental stability of Bremer. Forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz shares Wallace’s concern and points out that people who have been in prison for decades, “turn to their old social mechanisms of coping—social withdrawal, isolating themselves, figuring out whom to blame, building their anger and repeating criminal acts.”
Source: Newsweek
Background: The day Wallace was shot, George Wallace’s obituary
Arthur Bremer shot Governor Wallace on May 15, 1972, while Wallace was campaigning as a Presidential candidate in Laurel, Maryland. The Washington Post article from May 15, 1972, including a personal account of the shooting from a witness Jack Ingram, who was at the rally. "He [Bremer] kept yelling, 'Hey George! Hey George!'” stated Ingram, "The man stuck the gun right in his stomach and fired."
Source: The Washington Post
George Wallace died on September 13, 1998. A self-proclaimed “New Deal” Democrat, George Wallace ran a successful campaign for Governor of Alabama. In his 1963 inaugural speech, Wallace proclaimed, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever,” a phrase that would later haunt Wallace in his public life. In its ten-page obituary, The New York Times explores Wallace’s political and personal life.
Source: The New York Times
History: Wallace supported segregation, Bremer’s journals
The History Channel provides video of the historic televised moment in which Alabama Governor George Wallace reluctantly yielded to the Federal National Guard, and desegregated the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa by orders of President John F. Kennedy. However, he promised to continue what he called a “Constitutional fight” against desegregation. The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa was the last all-white state university to be desegregated.
Source: The History Channel
In March of 1972 Bremer started a journal, which would later be used against him in his trial. It outlines his plan and purpose for attempting Wallace’s assassination; the first entry of his journal shows Bremer was interested in killing someone else: 'Now I start my diary of my personal plot to kill by pistol either Richard Nixon or George Wallace.” His other entries show his desire for fame in that he wanted: “ ‘to do SOMETHING BOLD AND DRAMATIC, FORCEFULL & DYNAMIC, A STATEMENT [sic] of my manhood for the world to see.'"
Source: Public Broadcasting System
Related Links: Birmingham Press-Register
The Birmingham Press-Register asserts that the release of Bremer is an unfortunate reality, citing concerns raised by his rationale for refusing psychiatric evaluations while in prison. "If you ask a Nazi psychologist what he thinks, you'll get a Nazi's opinion. If you ask a Jewish psychologist what he thinks, you'll get a Jewish opinion," stated Mr. Bremer.
Source: Birmingham Press-Register
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