WEBVTT - Introducing: Rip Current

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<v Speaker 1>This summer, a lone gunman on a rooftop reminded us

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<v Speaker 1>that American presidents have long been the targets of assassins.

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<v Speaker 1>Nearly fifty years ago, President Gerald Ford faced two attempts

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<v Speaker 1>on his life in less than three weeks. September fifth,

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventy five, Sacramento, California, in a crowd outside the

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<v Speaker 1>Capitol Building, a woman pulls a gun on President Ford.

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<v Speaker 2>President Gerald R. Ford came stunningly close to being the

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<v Speaker 2>victim of an assassin.

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<v Speaker 1>Today, a woman dressed in a long red skirt pointed

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<v Speaker 1>a forty five caliber pistol at the President.

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<v Speaker 2>And I saw a woman start to go down and

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<v Speaker 2>her arm go back, and I saw the gun. September

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<v Speaker 2>twenty second, San Francisco, on the steps of the Saint

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<v Speaker 2>Francis Hotel, another woman tries to kill the president.

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<v Speaker 1>A woman fired a shot at President Ford in San

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<v Speaker 1>Francisco this afternoon. She was right at the front of

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<v Speaker 1>the robe and forty feet away.

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<v Speaker 2>When he walked out.

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<v Speaker 1>President waved of the crowds and they had cheered him,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's when it happened. I yelled the she's got

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<v Speaker 1>a gun. In two hundred and fifty years of US history.

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<v Speaker 1>These are the only two times we know of that

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<v Speaker 1>a woman has tried to assassinate a sitting president.

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<v Speaker 2>The two events were separated by seventeen days, in less

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<v Speaker 2>than ninety miles, and the two assassins had never met.

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<v Speaker 1>One was the protege of infamous cult leader Charles Manson.

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<v Speaker 1>She is twenty six year old Lynette Alice from nickname Squeaky.

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<v Speaker 2>I always felt like Glynnette was kind of his right

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<v Speaker 2>hand woman, all her good curson, a very good person.

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<v Speaker 1>The other a middle aged housewife, an aspiring radical working

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<v Speaker 1>undercover for the FBI in the violent Revolutionary Underground, identified

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<v Speaker 1>by police Sarah Jane.

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<v Speaker 2>Because she didn't look like a radical, she could enter

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<v Speaker 2>into these areas that other people couldn't.

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<v Speaker 1>A spy. Basically, I was the person in the intent

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<v Speaker 1>was exactly as I stated in court, to wilfully and

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<v Speaker 1>know any assassinate Gerald R. Four, the President of the

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<v Speaker 1>United States.

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<v Speaker 2>This season on the podcast Rip Current, we ask why

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<v Speaker 2>these women. She was a gentle quiet I thought, he's

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<v Speaker 2>loving girl. Why did they want to kill President Ford?

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<v Speaker 1>Being the appointee of President Nixon.

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<v Speaker 2>It's understandable to me that in their minds he should

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<v Speaker 2>also be the object of their hatred, and why this time,

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<v Speaker 2>this place. One does not have to condone everything in

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<v Speaker 2>hate Ashbury to know that it exists. Back then, there

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<v Speaker 2>were lots of communes, There were lots of guru varieties.

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<v Speaker 2>Manson told his followers that this would be a blood

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<v Speaker 2>bath in the streets of every American city. What starts

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<v Speaker 2>as a hippie love called transmographied into a violent criminal enterprise.

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<v Speaker 2>Five persons, including actress Sharon tape Or found dead. And

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<v Speaker 2>realize that we're dealing with very violent underground groups. Our

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<v Speaker 2>corporate enemies of the people will be shot on at

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<v Speaker 2>any time and at any play. The goals were anarchy,

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of anarchy. The revolutionary groups would get their

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<v Speaker 2>power the bloodiest and most massive gun battle in the

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<v Speaker 2>history of Los Angeles.

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<v Speaker 1>Random violence, political violence.

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<v Speaker 2>There was just no let up as to the fasts insect,

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<v Speaker 2>the praise U find the life of the people.

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<v Speaker 1>These people aren't just a bunch of nuts. They're perfectly

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<v Speaker 1>willing to die for what they're doing. Someplace else that

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<v Speaker 1>would have been like a big deal, but not in California.

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<v Speaker 1>The story of one strange and violent summer this season

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<v Speaker 1>on Rip Current.

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<v Speaker 2>Listen to RIP Current September fifth, on the iHeartRadio app,

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<v Speaker 2>Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen into your favorite shows.