1 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:05,440 Speaker 1: Rip Current is a production of iHeart Podcasts. The views 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:09,000 Speaker 1: and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the host, 3 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 1: producers or parent company. Listener discretion is it Fine? 4 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 2: Five suspective members of the Symbionese Liberation Army are dead 5 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:24,079 Speaker 2: following the bloodiest and most massive gun battle in the 6 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:26,400 Speaker 2: history of Los Angeles hundred. 7 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 3: After the disastrous Los Angeles shootout in May nineteen seventy 8 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,879 Speaker 3: four that had left six members of the Simonese Liberation 9 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:39,560 Speaker 3: Army dead, the remaining three Corps members, Bill and Emily 10 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 3: Harris and Patty Hurst went underground. They became for sixteen 11 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 3: months the most wanted fugitives in America. During that time, 12 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 3: new recruits joined a vastly changed SLA. Sinq was dead, 13 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 3: Patty and the Harris's state underground mostly out of Pennsylvania 14 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 3: farmhouse before eventually moving back to the Bay Area. This 15 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 3: new SLA included the three Solia siblings, Steve and his 16 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 3: sisters Kathy and Joe, Michael Bordon, who'd been involved in 17 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 3: a loose organization called the Revolutionary Army, and an artist 18 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 3: named Wendy Yashimora. On September fifteenth, nineteen seventy five, just 19 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 3: one week before Sarah Jane Moore would take a shot 20 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 3: at Gerald Ford, the FBI visited a two hundred unit 21 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 3: apartment complex in Pacifica, California, just south of San Francisco. 22 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 3: The agent showed the manager, a man named Bill Osgood, 23 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 3: some pictures, wondering if he recognized any of the people 24 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 3: in them as working on a crew painting the apartments. 25 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 3: Osgood pooked out two Michael Bordon and Steven Solia. The 26 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 3: manager said that two young women also worked on the crew. 27 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 3: The agents waited, and at ten thirty that morning saw 28 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 3: Kathy and Joe Solia arrive ready to work. After sixteen months, 29 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 3: they'd finally located the SLA the big question where Patty 30 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 3: Hurst or the harrises with them. Around five point thirty 31 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,520 Speaker 3: that afternoon, the two Solia sisters left the complex with 32 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:25,119 Speaker 3: an unidentified man and drove to a house at six 33 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 3: twenty five Morse Street in San Francisco. The agents watched 34 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 3: the three people enter the house and circled the block 35 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 3: a few times before being called off. Morse was a narrow, 36 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 3: one way street and very difficult to stake out. The 37 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 3: next morning, the sixteenth, a new FBI team watched as 38 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 3: Steven Solia left the house alone at ten point fifty. 39 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 3: They followed him as he drove his forward further into 40 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 3: San Francisco to two eighty eight Procida, where he picked 41 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 3: up his sisters and brought them to the complex in 42 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 3: Pacifica for another day of painting. The FBI set up 43 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:05,240 Speaker 3: a watch at the Persida address. It was a busier 44 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:09,160 Speaker 3: street and easier to surveil, and they thought Kathy Solia 45 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,239 Speaker 3: most likely lived there. The consensus was that Kathy was 46 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 3: the key person to keep an eye on. The following day, 47 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:21,359 Speaker 3: the seventeenth, the FBI watched Kathy and Joe leave two 48 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,800 Speaker 3: eighty eight Prisida at ten am, walked to their car 49 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 3: and presumably had to work at the apartment complex. The 50 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 3: agents did not follow. They stayed with the stakeout. At 51 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 3: ten point fifty, a man left the house. He had 52 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 3: a full beard and wore cut off jeans and a 53 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 3: T shirt. It was Bill Harris. He went back into 54 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 3: the house and emerged again forty minutes later, this time 55 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 3: with Emily Harris. They went for a jog. The FBI 56 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 3: had located two of the three most wanted fugitives. Where 57 00:03:55,600 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 3: was Patty On Thursday, September eighteenth, the FBI agents again 58 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 3: watched two eighty eight Prosida, but not the house on 59 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 3: Morse Street. The observed Kathy and Joe leave again for work. 60 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 3: A young black man pulled up to the house in 61 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 3: a truck. He knocked on the door and talked to 62 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 3: Bill Harris for a moment, then the two of them 63 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 3: walked down to the truck. The agent's tensed, not sure 64 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 3: what was happening, but Harris walked away from the truck 65 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 3: carrying a fish. The man was a black Muslim fish peddler. 66 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 3: At ten of one, Bill and Emily Harris came out 67 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,920 Speaker 3: and went for their jog. After the shootout in Los Angeles, 68 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:39,279 Speaker 3: the FBI wanted to arrest the Harrises on the street. 69 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 3: They got in position, and when the Harrises returned to 70 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 3: the block, four agents stepped out of a car and 71 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 3: identified themselves. Emily tried to run, but agents blocked her path. 72 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 3: She screamed expletives at them as she was put into 73 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,839 Speaker 3: an FBI car. Bill stayed silent and was driven away 74 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:02,400 Speaker 3: in a separate car. FBI agents searched the house. They 75 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 3: found guns, bomb making equipment, and radical literature. They did 76 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 3: not find Patty Hurst. Members of the San Francisco Police 77 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 3: Department and the FBI went to the Morse Street address. 78 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 3: They didn't expect to find anything, but wanted to cover 79 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,720 Speaker 3: all the bases. Looking through the kitchen window, they saw 80 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 3: two women at a table. An FBI agent named Tom 81 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,720 Speaker 3: Padden kicked down the door, gun drawn, yelling at the 82 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,120 Speaker 3: two women to freeze. One of the women seemed to 83 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 3: be thinking of retreating to a back room. Padden pointed 84 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 3: the gun at the other woman and yelled, freeze or 85 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 3: all shoot her in the head. The woman laughed, then giggled, 86 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:49,480 Speaker 3: then put her hands up. It was Patty Hurst. According 87 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:53,119 Speaker 3: to the FBI, Patty was arrested at two twenty five 88 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 3: on September eighteenth. Sometime just prior to that, radio station 89 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 3: KPFA received to call from a woman claiming to be 90 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:06,839 Speaker 3: Sarah Jane Moore. She told station manager Larry Benske that 91 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 3: the arrest had happened. Bensky knew Sarah Jane. He recognized 92 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:16,160 Speaker 3: her voice. It's not clear how she came by this information. 93 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:22,720 Speaker 4: I'm to be bald, and I'm Mary Catherine Garrison, and 94 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 4: this is rip current. 95 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,719 Speaker 5: Well, I yelled the bitch has got a gun before 96 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 5: I made the lunch flot as the trigger was going. 97 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 4: On Episode eleven, there comes a point where the only 98 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 4: way you can make a statement is to pick up 99 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 4: a gun. 100 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:58,160 Speaker 2: Good evening, Patty Hurst has been taken into custody. The 101 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 2: FBI says Patty Hurst was picked up today in San Francisco. 102 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 2: The hearst newspaper Eiras has been missing for nineteen months. 103 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 3: Patty Hurst's capture was easily the biggest story in the country. 104 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 3: California newspapers in particular were suddenly under pressure to produce 105 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 3: stories about or related to her captivity and arrest. Ellen Hume, 106 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 3: who was a reporter at the La Times, had already 107 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 3: been working on a series of articles about the current 108 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 3: state of the radical left, and. 109 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 6: I did it with a colleague at the La Times, 110 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 6: Arta Zechino, and she and I went out and spent 111 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 6: a long time interviewing everybody we could about all aspects. 112 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 6: How did the Black Panthers fit in, how of the 113 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:45,560 Speaker 6: weather underground fit in? And so we were trying to 114 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 6: create this huge series. 115 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 3: The plan was to run a sidebar about Sarah Jane 116 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 3: Moore to accompany one of the stories in the series, 117 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 3: but with Patty and custody. The deadline for the series 118 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 3: was moved up to begin the far following Monday. They 119 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 3: had a weekend to get the articles ready to publish again. 120 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 3: Sarah Jean often went by Sally at this time, and 121 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 3: that is how Ellen refers to her here. 122 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 6: So Narda and I were continuing to work on our series, 123 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 6: and then all of a sudden, Patty Hurst and Harris 124 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 6: As were arrested in San Francisco, which meant our series 125 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 6: had a new time peg. We had to get it 126 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:26,679 Speaker 6: in the paper immediately. 127 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 3: So we worked. 128 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 6: Narda and I worked all weekend preparing all these different 129 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 6: packages that were going to go in the paper one 130 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 6: day after another. And the first story ran on page 131 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:42,439 Speaker 6: one on a Monday, and the story about Sally was 132 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 6: supposed to run with another piece that was going to 133 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 6: go on Wednesday. That was the whole plan, so we 134 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:50,600 Speaker 6: had multiple stories. Her little sidebar was going to go 135 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:53,679 Speaker 6: on Wednesday. 136 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 3: While Ellen was working on her series. The weekend of 137 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 3: September twentieth and twenty first, President Ford was back in 138 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 3: California for the first time since his close call with Lynette. 139 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 3: From On Saturday, he received an honorary degree at Pepperdine 140 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 3: University in Malibu. Ford then flew to the Monterey Peninsula, 141 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 3: where he played golf in the afternoon. He and his 142 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 3: wife spent the night at the residence of Lawrence Firestone, 143 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:24,199 Speaker 3: the ambassador to Belgium. The next day, Sunday, the twenty first, 144 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 3: the President would travel to Palo Alto, where he would 145 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:33,400 Speaker 3: dedicate Stanford's new law school building. That Saturday, Sarah Jane 146 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 3: phoned San Francisco Police Inspector Jack O'shay. She had met 147 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,559 Speaker 3: him during her work for the People in Need program 148 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 3: and had since occasionally fed him bits of information. On 149 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,080 Speaker 3: the call, she told him that she was thinking about 150 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 3: driving down to Palo Alto two, in her words, test 151 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:56,160 Speaker 3: the system. Jack O'shay was alarmed by this statement. He 152 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 3: called the Secret Service to tell them about the conversation. 153 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 3: Said this Gal could be another squeaky from At this time, 154 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 3: Sarah Jane was becoming increasingly isolated, shunned by the radicals 155 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 3: in the Bay Area because she was a known informant 156 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 3: for law enforcement. Popeye Jackson's execution had made clear to 157 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 3: her the danger she was in. She was an admitted informant. 158 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:24,839 Speaker 3: Her accusations against Popeye may have led to his death, 159 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 3: and she had been called out publicly by the Vietnam 160 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:31,640 Speaker 3: Veterans Against the War and other groups for her infiltration 161 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:35,960 Speaker 3: into radical organizations. Since entering the world of the Bay 162 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,720 Speaker 3: Area radical scene through the People in Need program, Sarah 163 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 3: Jane had done everything she could to be in the 164 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 3: center of events. This was no longer possible with most 165 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 3: of the far left groups that she'd been involved with 166 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:52,439 Speaker 3: for the previous year. In an interview with Ellen Hume 167 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:55,320 Speaker 3: two days after her attempt, Sarah Jane. 168 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 4: Said, I knew I was rapidly reaching a point that 169 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 4: all of the ADAM news of taking action were being 170 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 4: closed one at a time. 171 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:10,400 Speaker 3: Sunday morning, September twenty first, Jack O'shay again called the 172 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 3: Secret Service about Sarah Jane. He then met with her 173 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 3: in person. During this meeting, O'shay asked Sarah Jane if 174 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,240 Speaker 3: she had a gun. Yes, she said she had a 175 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 3: forty four. It shows how crazy things had gotten in 176 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 3: Sarah Jane's life that she went straight from that meeting 177 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 3: with Inspector o'sha to participate in a potential sting operation 178 00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 3: with the Firearms Bureau of the Department of Treasury. She 179 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 3: and a short stocky ATF agent who went by the 180 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:45,800 Speaker 3: name Chuck, drove to the Danville house of Mark Fernwood 181 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 3: two weeks before. Fernwood had sold Sarah Jane of forty four. 182 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:54,000 Speaker 3: Now she was back with a check to pay for 183 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:58,200 Speaker 3: the gun. She had told the ATF that she suspected 184 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:02,800 Speaker 3: that Fernwood was selling guns illegally. It's not clear if 185 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:07,080 Speaker 3: she really believed this. This is Sarah Jane being interviewed 186 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 3: by Ben Williams for KPIX in San Francisco. 187 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:13,800 Speaker 7: So, the man who went with you to buy the 188 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:16,280 Speaker 7: thirty eighth that you found at the President was a 189 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:21,200 Speaker 7: government agent. Yes, his name was Chuck or something like that. Yes, 190 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 7: what was his role in helping ut to buy a gun? 191 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:27,760 Speaker 8: He wasn't helping me buy a gun. And that's a 192 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:33,720 Speaker 8: part of the very in my world was falling apart 193 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:36,720 Speaker 8: at the end. There were a variety of pressures that 194 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 8: were brought to bear on me, and there was a 195 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 8: little bit of blackmail on the part of the SFPD, 196 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 8: and I got trapped into something and it was the 197 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:52,319 Speaker 8: kind of thing that was happening to me at the end. 198 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,319 Speaker 3: It seems likely that this half hearted attempt to set 199 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:01,439 Speaker 3: up Mark Fernwood was in response to or perceived pressure 200 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 3: from law enforcement to give them something useful. She'd been 201 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 3: largely shunned by the radical left after confessing that she 202 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 3: had been an FBI informant. Her need for connection as 203 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:17,319 Speaker 3: she became increasingly isolated, led her to continue to work 204 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:21,320 Speaker 3: with the San Francisco Police Department, the FBI, and other 205 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 3: agencies just for the human contact. Some of the pressures 206 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:28,880 Speaker 3: she perceived may have been her own need to continue 207 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:33,080 Speaker 3: to fuel those relationships. The trip to Danville came to 208 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 3: very little. The ATF agent called Chuck, walked around looking 209 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:41,400 Speaker 3: at things but saying little. Sarah Jane paid Mark for 210 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 3: the forty four and made small talk. Then they left. 211 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 3: There was no indication that Fernwood was doing anything illegal 212 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 3: more biographer Jerry Spieler. 213 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 9: So nothing happened with that. But you know, she used 214 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,080 Speaker 9: that saying, look, I really help with what you're doing. 215 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,720 Speaker 9: You know, I'm really helping you do these things. So 216 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:08,240 Speaker 9: she wanted to make herself look important in helping the 217 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 9: government do what they needed to do. 218 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 4: Sarah Jane and Chuck drove back to San Francisco. She 219 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 4: returned to her apartment at two thirty to find two 220 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 4: San Francisco police officers waiting for her. Jack O'sheay had 221 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 4: sent them. They asked her if she had a weapon, 222 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:26,640 Speaker 4: and she said that she had a forty four in 223 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:29,840 Speaker 4: her purse. They searched her car and found two boxes 224 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 4: of ammunition and eleven loose rounds. At the time, this 225 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:38,080 Speaker 4: amounted to a misdemeanor offense in California. The officers told 226 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 4: Sarah Jane that they were going to take her to 227 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 4: the local precinct office. A blond woman emerged from Sarah 228 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:46,080 Speaker 4: Jane's apartment and said she'd go with Sarah Jane to 229 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:48,960 Speaker 4: the police station. This woman is believed to have been 230 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 4: a member of the radical group Tribal Thumb, who lived 231 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:53,920 Speaker 4: with Sarah Jane for a couple of weeks that September. 232 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:57,240 Speaker 4: The officers didn't know this, of course, and allowed her 233 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:00,880 Speaker 4: to accompany Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane was held in the 234 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:04,120 Speaker 4: station until about four in the afternoon, long enough that 235 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:06,360 Speaker 4: she wouldn't have time to travel the forty miles to 236 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 4: Palo Alto to see President Ford. Then an SFBD lieutenant 237 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:12,560 Speaker 4: called the Secret Service to see if they wanted the 238 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:17,240 Speaker 4: SFPD to continue to hold Sarah Jane. The response they 239 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,320 Speaker 4: could let her go. The Secret Service planned to see 240 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:23,240 Speaker 4: her that night, so she was allowed to leave and 241 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 4: return to her apartment. At about eight thirty that evening, 242 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:32,000 Speaker 4: two Secret Service agents, Gary Yager and Martin Haskell Junior, 243 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 4: arrived at Sarah Jane's apartment. There is no mention of 244 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 4: the blonde woman in accounts of this encounter. The two 245 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 4: agents took Sarah Jane to the Federal building on Golden 246 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:44,160 Speaker 4: Gate Drive and interviewed her for about an hour and 247 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 4: a half. The Senate would later hold hearings investigating whether 248 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:50,840 Speaker 4: law enforcement had made errors in their dealings with Sarah 249 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:53,360 Speaker 4: Jane and the hours leading up to her attempt on Ford. 250 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 4: At one of the hearings, Gary Yager described their conversation 251 00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 4: with Sarah Jane at the Secret Service office. She was 252 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 4: hesitant to talk and became a little upset, saying something 253 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 4: like I'm in a fine kettle of fish. The agents 254 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:11,440 Speaker 4: asked her why she carried a gun. She said because 255 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 4: her life had been threatened, and this apparently was an 256 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 4: adequate explanation. They asked her whether she planned to shoot 257 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:22,120 Speaker 4: Ford or perhaps a demonstrator. According to their testimony. She 258 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:26,640 Speaker 4: calmly replied no to both questions. She also said that 259 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:30,240 Speaker 4: she had no animosity towards Ford or his administration, which 260 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:35,080 Speaker 4: she considered uncontroversial. As the interview wound down, one of 261 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 4: the agents phoned SFPD Inspector Jack O'sheay O'shee told the 262 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,800 Speaker 4: agent what he knew about Sarah Jane, her background, her 263 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 4: work is an informant for both the SFPD and the FBI, 264 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 4: and that he felt as though he knew her personally. 265 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 4: When he was done, the agent asked him if there 266 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:56,400 Speaker 4: was anything else. He said no. After the interview was completed, 267 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,720 Speaker 4: the agents concluded that Sarah Jane was not of sufficient 268 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 4: ptime detection interest to warrant surveillance. They released her from custody. 269 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:07,800 Speaker 4: It was sometime after one in the morning of September 270 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:11,879 Speaker 4: twenty second. Within sixteen hours, Sarah Jane would fire a 271 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:33,679 Speaker 4: shot at Gerald Ford after the break. After her release 272 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 4: from Secret Service custody in the early morning hours of Monday, 273 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:40,800 Speaker 4: September twenty second, Sarah Jane presumably went home to sleep. 274 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:43,560 Speaker 4: By nine point fifteen, she was up and making a 275 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:47,040 Speaker 4: series of phone calls. She was clearly in a period 276 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:50,960 Speaker 4: of high stress exacerbated by her mental illness, she feared 277 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 4: for her life. She later talked about this in her 278 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:57,879 Speaker 4: interview for Playboy magazine. I was going to get killed. 279 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 4: I'm glad to see stories in the paper finally that 280 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:03,200 Speaker 4: people are admitting it. They had told me that if 281 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:05,359 Speaker 4: anyone was saying I was safe, I never heard it. 282 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 4: I even got calls from people out of town saying, 283 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 4: my god, do you know what we've heard from our 284 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,520 Speaker 4: underground contacts. They were calling to tell me I was 285 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 4: going to be killed. When people began dying around me, though, 286 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:19,479 Speaker 4: I began to think maybe I was next. In an 287 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:23,159 Speaker 4: article following Sarah Jane's attempt, Carol Pogash wrote that a 288 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:27,080 Speaker 4: mutual friend of hers and Sarah Janes told her everything 289 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:29,679 Speaker 4: was coming together on her. She had moved to the 290 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:32,159 Speaker 4: Mission to be in the center of the action. She 291 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 4: had made many enemies. I warned her she might be killed. 292 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:39,600 Speaker 4: Sarah Jane felt as though she needed to prove to 293 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 4: the left that she had chosen their side over that 294 00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:46,800 Speaker 4: of the establishment, meaning the FBI, SFPD and so on. Or, 295 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 4: to put it in terms we have already talked about, 296 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:51,280 Speaker 4: she wanted to prove that she was a member of 297 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:56,359 Speaker 4: the radical young and not Middle America. She had hoped 298 00:18:56,359 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 4: that Ellen Hume's peace about her in the La Times 299 00:18:58,840 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 4: might accomplish that. 300 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:03,119 Speaker 6: And this is what's so interesting about the power of 301 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:07,560 Speaker 6: the newspapers in those days. She expected that my story 302 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:11,159 Speaker 6: in the La Times explaining that she'd converted to the 303 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 6: radical cause. She had spoken, you know, as an informant 304 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 6: to the FBI, but her real heart now had converted. 305 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 6: She expected that would save her life. And I didn't 306 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 6: understand the extent to which she was hanging on that 307 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:27,879 Speaker 6: and waiting for that. I told her it was going 308 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:29,960 Speaker 6: to take a couple more days or weeks to get 309 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 6: the story in the paper because we were waiting for 310 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 6: the whole series to be finished. But the stakes for 311 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:39,280 Speaker 6: that story were very high for her. She believed it 312 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 6: would save her life. 313 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 4: One of the calls Sarah Jane made that morning was 314 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 4: to Ellen. Ellen had been working all weekend with NARDA 315 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:49,880 Speaker 4: Zechino to finish a series on the state of radicalism 316 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:53,480 Speaker 4: in nineteen seventy five. The publication dates had been moved 317 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 4: up because of Patty Hurst's arrest. 318 00:19:56,440 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 6: So Monday rolls around and I'd been up all night 319 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:05,400 Speaker 6: every night all weekend with NARDA. I was asleep and 320 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 6: the phone rings in my home and it's a switchboard 321 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 6: saying someone named Sarah Jane Morris or Sally Moore is 322 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 6: calling you from San Francisco. Will you take the call 323 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 6: because they would have patched it through to me. And 324 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:20,679 Speaker 6: I said, oh, tell her to call back later, you know, 325 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:22,360 Speaker 6: because i'd pro finally gone to bed. 326 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:26,359 Speaker 4: What Ellen didn't know was that Sarah Jane thought that 327 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:29,520 Speaker 4: the piece about her was supposed to run on that day, Monday, 328 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:33,159 Speaker 4: the twenty second, It was actually slated for Wednesday, the 329 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,520 Speaker 4: twenty fourth, So on Monday morning, when she looked at 330 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:40,440 Speaker 4: the La Times, the story wasn't there. She presumably called 331 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 4: Ellen to ask her what had happened, but Ellen didn't 332 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:48,439 Speaker 4: take her call. Sarah Jane told Playboy Charles Bates, special 333 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:50,800 Speaker 4: agent in charge of the San Francisco office, told me, 334 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 4: if the FBI did not like anything in the proposed story, 335 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 4: they would ask some higher ups at the publication to 336 00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:00,280 Speaker 4: edit it out. That they had done that before. She 337 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,440 Speaker 4: felt her life was in danger. She needed to prove 338 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 4: herself to the radical left. The article she thought would 339 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 4: save her hadn't appeared, and Gerald Ford was in town 340 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:17,920 Speaker 4: that day. Sarah Jane made other calls that morning. She 341 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:20,639 Speaker 4: called Martin Haskell, one of the Secret Service agents who 342 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:23,879 Speaker 4: had interviewed her just hours before. He was an inn. 343 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:28,040 Speaker 4: She called Bert Worthington, a contact of hers in the FBI. 344 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 4: He was an in either. She called Jack O'shay at 345 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:34,720 Speaker 4: the SFPD. An operator said that she could take a 346 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,600 Speaker 4: message for O'Shea, but Sarah Jane hung up without leaving one. 347 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 4: She may have made other calls as well. We only 348 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:44,120 Speaker 4: know for sure of one other call that morning, made 349 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 4: to the gun dealing hobbyist Mark Fernwood. Sarah Jane called 350 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:52,000 Speaker 4: Fernwood at nine thirty. She said that she wanted to 351 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,320 Speaker 4: buy a gun for a friend who needed it for protection. 352 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:57,880 Speaker 4: Fernwood said that he wanted to see this other goal 353 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:01,399 Speaker 4: before he sold her a weapon. Sarah Jane told him 354 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:03,720 Speaker 4: that her friend wasn't available to come out to Danville 355 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:08,000 Speaker 4: that day, but that she needed the gun. Fernwood was reluctant, 356 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 4: but everything that he'd seen of Sarah Jane made him 357 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:14,320 Speaker 4: believe that she was responsible and trustworthy. He agreed to 358 00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:18,400 Speaker 4: sell her a thirty eight for her friend. Sarah Jane 359 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:21,159 Speaker 4: drove out to Danville. Fern One would later say that 360 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:23,880 Speaker 4: she was friendly. He offered her soda and she drank 361 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:27,600 Speaker 4: it quickly while they made small talk. Eventually, she bought 362 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:29,399 Speaker 4: the thirty eight with a check for one hundred and 363 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:33,119 Speaker 4: forty five dollars. As she left, Fernwood mentioned that she 364 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:34,840 Speaker 4: might want to check the sight on the gun, that 365 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:37,959 Speaker 4: it was a little off. She got back in her 366 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,960 Speaker 4: car and drove towards San Francisco. In the days that followed, 367 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:44,440 Speaker 4: Fernwood would say that the thirty eight was a self 368 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:49,359 Speaker 4: defense gun, not suitable for an assassination. Sarah Jane would 369 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:51,880 Speaker 4: later claim that she wanted someone to stop her from 370 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:55,159 Speaker 4: trying to kill President Ford. She'd made those calls in 371 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:58,080 Speaker 4: the morning, but no one was there to take them. Now, 372 00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:01,959 Speaker 4: she sped down Highway six eighty from Danville towards San Francisco. 373 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:04,919 Speaker 4: As she drove, she had the thirty eight in her 374 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,280 Speaker 4: lap and she loaded it with bullets. She hoped police 375 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:11,160 Speaker 4: would pull her over for speeding, find the gun, and detainer, 376 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 4: but that didn't happen. She crossed the Bay Bridge into 377 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,200 Speaker 4: San Francisco and made her way to the underground parking 378 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:22,360 Speaker 4: garage at Union Square and parked. She left the garage 379 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:26,480 Speaker 4: and walked to the Saint Francis Hotel. Demonstrators and supporters 380 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:30,639 Speaker 4: stood behind cordons across the street from the hotel. Television 381 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:33,960 Speaker 4: cameras were on hand. Uniform police were posted at three 382 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:38,439 Speaker 4: foot intervals along the street. Sarah Jane walked toward the 383 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 4: hotel's side entrance on Post Street. This was where she 384 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:45,880 Speaker 4: thought Ford would eventually exit the building. She stepped into 385 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:50,359 Speaker 4: the crowd, hoping to disappear among the masses. Another person 386 00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:52,640 Speaker 4: in the crowd that day was a Michigan raised ex 387 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:56,400 Speaker 4: marine named Oliver Sipple. He hadn't come out of any 388 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:01,040 Speaker 4: political conviction. He was just curious. 389 00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 5: Well all the guys from Michigan, I've never seen him 390 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:05,680 Speaker 5: the person. I'll stick around and see him. You like 391 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:06,880 Speaker 5: in series, it looks. 392 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:10,359 Speaker 4: Like Oliver Sipple. And Sarah Jane and the rest of 393 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,120 Speaker 4: the crowd settled into wait for Ford to emerge from 394 00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:19,160 Speaker 4: his hotel, scheduled for about four that afternoon. Jerry Speeler, she. 395 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 3: Was forty feet away. 396 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:22,320 Speaker 9: She was right at the front of the rope and 397 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:25,679 Speaker 9: forty feet away from him when he walked out. So 398 00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:28,960 Speaker 9: there was a woman from one of the newspapers. Who 399 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:32,680 Speaker 9: was there, Carol Pogas, who saw Sarah Jane, who remembered 400 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,080 Speaker 9: her from all of the Pean activities and that kind 401 00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:35,560 Speaker 9: of stuff. 402 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:41,879 Speaker 4: Journalist Carol Pogash. 403 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 10: My city editor, had sent me up there with the 404 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,360 Speaker 10: idea that, you know, maybe there'll be some nut whatever, 405 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:49,640 Speaker 10: just keep an eye out. And so I looked around. 406 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:52,920 Speaker 10: I didn't see anything. I talked to Sarah Jane Moore. 407 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:57,280 Speaker 4: Carol Pogash later wrote an article for the San Francisco 408 00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:01,879 Speaker 4: Chronicle about seeing Sarah Jane that day. She wrote, we 409 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:02,880 Speaker 4: made small talk. 410 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:06,440 Speaker 3: She mentioned something about a trip to Palo Alto, her 411 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:10,720 Speaker 3: son Fred and my recent marriage. She appeared composed. 412 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 4: Sarah Jane also told Carol about her visit from the 413 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,879 Speaker 4: Secret Service a previous night. Carol thought Sarah Jane seemed 414 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:23,320 Speaker 4: excited by the visit. After a brief conversation, Carol left 415 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:24,560 Speaker 4: Sarah Jane in the crowd. 416 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 10: I just thought, well, then I'll go back to the 417 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:32,640 Speaker 10: city room. So I wasn't there when he came out, 418 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:36,399 Speaker 10: because there was nothing I had to worry about so 419 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 10: much for my intuition. 420 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:44,119 Speaker 4: As the weight went on, Sarah Jane became concerned. 421 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,040 Speaker 9: And Sarah Jane was worried that Ford wouldn't come out 422 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:49,800 Speaker 9: in time because she needed to go pick up her 423 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:50,640 Speaker 9: son from school. 424 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:54,840 Speaker 4: The crowd cheered as a man emerged from the hotel, 425 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,960 Speaker 4: but it was a false alarm. It was not the President, 426 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 4: just a staffer who looked a little like Sarah Jane 427 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 4: pulled the thirty eight halfway from her purse and then 428 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:08,320 Speaker 4: pushed it back in. No one saw the gun. Then 429 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:09,920 Speaker 4: Ford appeared. 430 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:14,240 Speaker 11: About three thousand people had gathered along the street where 431 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 11: mister Ford's bullet proved limousine had been parked. The President 432 00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:19,240 Speaker 11: waved to the crowds and they had cheered him, and 433 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:20,240 Speaker 11: that's when it happened. 434 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:23,440 Speaker 4: Sarah Jane pulled the gun from her purse and held 435 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:26,360 Speaker 4: it shoulder high in a two handed cup and saucer position, 436 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:30,520 Speaker 4: with one hand bracing the gun from below. She knew 437 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:33,359 Speaker 4: that he was wearing a bulletproof vest, so she shot 438 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:34,080 Speaker 4: at his face. 439 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:44,960 Speaker 11: A shot rang out. At first it appeared mister Ford 440 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:46,840 Speaker 11: had been hit, but he was not injured and had 441 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:50,399 Speaker 11: just ducked as Secret Service agents hustled him into the limousine. 442 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:52,600 Speaker 11: The shot had come from across the street, no more 443 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:55,639 Speaker 11: than forty feet away the bullet. Ricougeted off a taxi 444 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,720 Speaker 11: and struck the driver a glancing blow, but the spent 445 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,720 Speaker 11: slug caused only a min scratch. The cabby recovered it 446 00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,360 Speaker 11: and gave it the police. 447 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,879 Speaker 4: Oliver Sipple, the former marine standing next to Sarah Jane, 448 00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:11,760 Speaker 4: acted quickly preventing Sarah Jane from getting off a second shot. 449 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:15,840 Speaker 5: For some strange reason, I looked down and I had 450 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:20,280 Speaker 5: seen Sarah Jane Margot enterprise and pull me. I yelled, 451 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:23,000 Speaker 5: the bitch has got a gun before I made the 452 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:28,200 Speaker 5: lunch for as the trigger was going on, I grabbed 453 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:31,840 Speaker 5: in about ten agents and twenty police for on us all. 454 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:35,520 Speaker 8: I just like that, always felt that I would only 455 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:37,639 Speaker 8: have a chance at one shot. I had practiced with 456 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 8: only one shot. I actually had time even before simple 457 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:45,920 Speaker 8: I hit my arm or shoulder or whatever does he hit, 458 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 8: I actually had time to get off a second shot. 459 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:53,159 Speaker 8: I was stunned that I missed, Absolutely stunned. It was 460 00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:56,560 Speaker 8: even it was a freaky thing because it was it 461 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,399 Speaker 8: was like target practice. The man came out, looked straight 462 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:03,359 Speaker 8: at us. I have I could not have asked, you know, 463 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:04,359 Speaker 8: for a better shock. 464 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,960 Speaker 9: She didn't test it. It was supposed to be target practice, 465 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:13,840 Speaker 9: but Ford, when I interviewed him, wanted to be able 466 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:17,760 Speaker 9: to walk amongst the people. He wanted to be there 467 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 9: for his constituents, and so there was a little more 468 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:25,200 Speaker 9: security when at the Saint Francis Hotel, but he still 469 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 9: wanted to be with people. 470 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,680 Speaker 4: Sarah Jane was carried by police and Secret Service agents 471 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:34,480 Speaker 4: into the Saint Francis Hotel and up to the mezzanine, 472 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:38,680 Speaker 4: where she was questioned in the Borgia room. According to 473 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 4: an affidavit, Sarah Jane confessed a Secret Service agent, Gary Yoager, 474 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:45,760 Speaker 4: who had questioned her earlier that morning, that she had 475 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:50,000 Speaker 4: fired the shot at President Ford. She was arraigned later 476 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:52,480 Speaker 4: that night on a charge of attempting to assassinate the 477 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,760 Speaker 4: president of the United States. She was assigned a federal 478 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:59,480 Speaker 4: public defender named James Hewitt. Bail was set at half 479 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 4: a million. Bar Ford, meanwhile, had already left the state. 480 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:08,640 Speaker 11: He was not injured this afternoon, but someone did take 481 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:11,000 Speaker 11: a shot at him as he emerged from the Saint 482 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 11: Francis Hotel in downtown San Francisco. Mister Ford was hustled 483 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:18,280 Speaker 11: into his limousine and taken directly to the airport. The 484 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:20,880 Speaker 11: plane took off about a half hour or so ago 485 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:23,920 Speaker 11: from San Francisco and is now en route back to Washington. 486 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 4: Alan Hume, who had refused Sarah Jane's call that morning, 487 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:30,760 Speaker 4: had no idea what had happened. 488 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:34,320 Speaker 6: So when I got up later and went into the office, 489 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:38,920 Speaker 6: I arrived in the downtown office of the La Times, 490 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:43,000 Speaker 6: Huge City Room, and all the editors were waiting at 491 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:46,920 Speaker 6: my desk, and they handed me a picture from the 492 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:51,280 Speaker 6: wire service. Is this your source, they said, And it 493 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:54,040 Speaker 6: was Sally. It was Sarah Jane Moore. She had just 494 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:56,400 Speaker 6: tried to shoot the President of the United States, and 495 00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:00,720 Speaker 6: she'd almost succeeded. So of course, I'm I mean complete, 496 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:04,240 Speaker 6: literally in shock. I go through the motions of saying yes, 497 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:08,400 Speaker 6: I took the sidebar that I had already prepared, saying 498 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 6: she was no madahurry because for one thing, she talked 499 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:17,360 Speaker 6: too much. I had all this colorful sidebar ready, and 500 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:19,160 Speaker 6: so what we did was we put a new lead 501 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:21,560 Speaker 6: on it, a new top. It said, the woman who 502 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:24,760 Speaker 6: just tried to kill President Ford was blah. And then 503 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:27,880 Speaker 6: my whole sidebar ran. It turned out later some of 504 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:30,479 Speaker 6: those details she had lied to me about so it 505 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:35,520 Speaker 6: hadn't been fact checked. And then I was devastated because 506 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:39,120 Speaker 6: I hadn't taken the call, and I figured I was 507 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:43,120 Speaker 6: complicit in her near assassination of the presidency. If I 508 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:45,920 Speaker 6: had taken the call, I probably could have talked her 509 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:47,680 Speaker 6: out of it, I thought at the time, I thought, 510 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:49,800 Speaker 6: oh my god. Turned out she called a lot of 511 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:52,360 Speaker 6: people that morning. I wasn't the only one, but I 512 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:54,520 Speaker 6: didn't know that, and I thought, oh boy. So I 513 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:57,000 Speaker 6: went home and you know, after I did my story 514 00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:59,840 Speaker 6: and I crawled home and just I hadn't had any sleep. 515 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,200 Speaker 6: It was just a wreck. So I'm having dinner that 516 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:06,000 Speaker 6: night with my husband and the phone rings and it's 517 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:10,640 Speaker 6: Sally's public defender, the lawyer they've assigned her. She's in jail, 518 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:15,959 Speaker 6: and he says she won't cooperate with me, the lawyer 519 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:20,360 Speaker 6: who's both the defender, until she talks to you. Can 520 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:22,959 Speaker 6: you come up here? Because there was no way to 521 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:25,960 Speaker 6: get her on the legally to get her on the phone, 522 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 6: so I called the last plane to San Francisco, a 523 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:33,800 Speaker 6: nine pm shuttle, and checked into the Cliff Hotel. And 524 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:36,680 Speaker 6: when I got to the Cliff Hotel, I called the 525 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:39,440 Speaker 6: lawyer and said I'm here, he said, good, come to 526 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:41,440 Speaker 6: the arraignment tomorrow and we'll take it from there. 527 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:47,240 Speaker 4: Sarah Jane had taken her shot and missed, but the 528 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:51,640 Speaker 4: question remained why the answer would need to go beyond 529 00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:54,280 Speaker 4: just the events of that day to the larger question 530 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:58,640 Speaker 4: of how she became radicalized to that degree. It was 531 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:00,680 Speaker 4: a question that could be asked about net From and 532 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:05,160 Speaker 4: Patty Hurst too. Simply put, what had happened to change 533 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:10,719 Speaker 4: them so dramatically and so rapidly next time on the 534 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:13,840 Speaker 4: final episode of this season of Rip Current. 535 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:34,480 Speaker 1: Rip Current was created and written by Toby Ball and 536 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:38,440 Speaker 1: developed with Alexander Williams. Hosted by Toby Ball with Mary 537 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:42,680 Speaker 1: Catherine Garrison. Original music by Jeff Sanoff, Show art by 538 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:46,880 Speaker 1: jeffany As Goda and Charles Rudder. Producers Jesse funk, Rema 539 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:52,440 Speaker 1: O'Kelly and Noams Griffin. Supervising producer Trelie Young. Executive producers 540 00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:54,640 Speaker 1: Alexander Williams and Matt Frederick. 541 00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:55,440 Speaker 5: Hear. 542 00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:58,880 Speaker 1: Episodes of Rip Current early completely add free and receive 543 00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:02,840 Speaker 1: exclusive bonus con by subscribing to iHeart True Crime Plus 544 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:07,920 Speaker 1: only on Apple Podcasts. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit 545 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio, app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to 546 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:16,280 Speaker 1: your favorite shows, and to visit our website, ripcurrentpod dot 547 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:25,240 Speaker 1: com