On this day, May 15, in 1972, Arthur Bremer shot and paralyzed Alabama Gov. George Wallace while the presidential hopeful campaigned in Maryland.
Bremer, of Milwaukee, kept a diary in which he wrote that he planned to assassinate Wallace or President Nixon as a “statement of my manhood for the world to see.” He even chose a catchphrase to yell at the shooting, “A penny for your thoughts!”
At a rally at the Laurel Shopping Center, Bremer pushed his way forward and shot Wallace four times and wounded three others. He forgot to yell his catchphrase.
Bremer became the inspiration for the 1976 film “Taxi Driver,” which in turn inspired John Hinckley to shoot President Reagan near Dupont Circle in 1981.
Bremer was sentenced to 63 years in prison, but was released in 2007.
Scott McCabe
