"Extremely strange, actually. Of all the protagonists in America’s horrible string of high-profile political assassinations and attempts in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, Arthur H. Bremer, who tried to kill Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama, appears to be the first and only one to become a free man again. He was released on parole today in Maryland.
"Mr. Bremer is free after serving 35 years of his 53-year sentence for the 1972 shooting, which left Mr. Wallace a paraplegic. Mr. Wallace lived another 25 years, and Mr. Bremer has evidently been a model prisoner, holding down a prison job and avoiding even a single black mark on his record, officials said.
"Mr. Bremer said at the time of his trial that his motive was to become a celebrity, and many observers have noted the pernicious, if unintended, effect that intense media attention has had, glamorizing assassins and inspiring copycats. John W. Hinckley Jr., who shot and wounded Ronald Reagan in 1981, said he did it to prove his love for the actress Jodie Foster, who appeared in the film Taxi Driver, about a would-be assassin who looked to Mr. Bremer as a role model."
The full posting is here, comparing Bremer's case to other recent assassins and would-be assassins.
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