10 Failed Assassins

We know a great deal about the successful assassinations of American presidents, political leaders and other public figures, but what about those assassinations that failed? There have been several close calls during assassination attempts, leaving the target badly wounded, slightly injured or even completely unharmed. With every failed assassination, we see how quickly lives can be taken away and how dangerous it is to be in the public eye. Here are the 10 most infamous failed assassins:

1. Claus von Stauffenberg was famously known for trying to assassinate Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944, in what was known as Operation Valkyrie. The German army officer was the driving force behind the plot to kill Hitler and remove the Nazi Party from power. On July 20, 1944, Stauffenberg entered the Fuhrer’s office carrying a briefcase that contained two bombs. He left the room to arm the first bomb and returned to the briefing room, leaving the briefcase under the table near Hitler. Stauffenberg excused himself again and left the room when the bomb exploded. He was convinced that no one could have survived, but Hitler survived practically unscathed. The bomb killed four people and injured others. Stauffenberg and his co-conspirator, Haeften, fled to a nearby airfield. It wasn’t long after the failed assassination attempt when the two were tracked down and captured during a shoot out. Stauffenberg was executed by a firing squad.

2.Arthur Bremer attempted to kill George Wallace while he was campaigning for democratic presidential primary in Laurel, Maryland, on May 15, 1972. Bremer shot Wallace five times with one bullet hitting his spinal column, which caused him to be paralyzed from the waist down. Wallace was confined to a wheelchair the rest of his life. Bremer’s motive to kill Wallace was fueled by a desire for fame and to be the greatest assassin, as noted in his diary. President Nixon was an earlier target for Bremer. He was convicted of attempted murder and was sentenced to 53 years in prison, but Bremer sought parole after 35 years and was released in November 2007.

3. Richard Lawrence was the first known person to try to assassinate an American president. Lawrence sought to kill President Andrew Jackson inside the Capitol Rotunda in January 1835. The English-born house painter fired at Jackson, but the powder failed to ignite and the bullet did not eject. He fired a second time but it did nothing again. Jackson lunged at Lawrence with his cane, but the shooter was pulled down to the ground by a young army officer who was nearby. Lawrence claimed that he was an heir to the British throne and Jackson stood in his way. He was arrested and found not guilty by reason of insanity. Lawrence was sentenced to a mental institution for the remainder of his life.

4. John Hinckley Jr. tried to assassin President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981, in an attempt to win the attention of actress Jodie Foster. Hinkley was successful in shooting Reagan, hitting him under the left arm and puncturing his lung. In a matter of three seconds, Hinkley shot Reagan, a police officer, a Secret Service agent, and seriously wounded Press Secretary James Brady. Hinckley was playing out the role of Travis Bickle, a fictional character from the movie Taxi Driver, in which Bickle protects a 12-year-old prostitute played by Jodie Foster, and he kills her pimp so that he can be portrayed as a hero to her and the media. Hinckley was obsessed with Bickle’s character and wanted to act out his rescue of Foster in real life. In the 1982 trial, Hinckley was found not-guilty by reason of insanity.

5. Sara Jane Moore tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford on Sept. 22, 1975, by shooting at him while standing in a crowd outside the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Moore fired one single shot at Ford while standing about 40 feet away from him and just barely missed his head by a couple inches. When she raised her arm to shoot again, Oliver Sipple, a US Marine, dove toward her, knocked her arm away and pulled her to the ground. Ford was not shot, but a bystander was injured when the bullet ricocheted off the hotel entrance. At the time of the shooting, Moore had been working as a bookkeeper for P.I.N., a charitable organization, and was an FBI informant. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison, but was released in December 2007 after serving 32 years of her life sentence.

6. John F. Schrank tried to assassinate President Theodore Roosevelt on Oct. 14, 1912 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during a presidential election campaign. Schrank attacked Roosevelt as he was leaving the Gilpatrick Hotel and shot him. The bullet went into his chest after hitting his steel eyeglass case and a copy of his speech that was in his jacket. Despite suggestions, Roosevelt refused to go to the hospital because he wasn’t coughing up blood and decided to deliver his speech as planned. Roosevelt showed great strength when he spoke for 90 minutes and addressed the crowd with all of his might. Doctors later determined that because he was not seriously wounded, it would be more risky to try to remove the bullet than leave it. Roosevelt had the bullet in his chest until the day he died. Schrank’s motive to kill Roosevelt remains unclear, but he was strongly against a sitting President serving a third term in office. Doctors declared that Schrank was insane, and he was sentenced to a mental hospital for the rest of his life.

7. Vladimir Arutyunian tried to assassinate President George W. Bush and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on May 10, 2005, when he threw a hand grenade toward the podium where Bush was speaking. The Soviet-made RGD-5 hand grenade was wrapped in a red plaid handkerchief and landed about 100 feet from the podium. The hand grenade failed to detonate because of a malfunction. A Georgian security officer removed the grenade, but Arutyunian disappeared. After the incident, FBI agents were able to identify a suspect from photographs taken during the speech. When they raided Arutyunian’s home trying to arrest him, a gunfight broke out and he killed Zurab Kvlividze, the head of the Interior Ministry’s counterintelligence department. He was wounded and captured by Georgian Special Forces, and admitted on television that he had thrown the grenade. The Georgian man hated the country’s new government and was not regretful of his actions. Arutyunian was found guilty of terrorism, attempted assassination, treason and murdering a police officer.

8. Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola tried to assassinate President Harry S. Truman on Nov. 1, 1950, in hopes of calling attention to Puerto Rico and advancing Puerto Rican independence. The two Puerto Rican nationalists prepared to attack Truman at the Blair House where the family was staying during White House renovations. Collazo and Torresola planned to surround the house and shoot Truman inside. Instead, the men got into a gunfight with White House policemen and Secret Service agents outside, but never made it inside the house. Three policemen were wounded, but one of them shot at Torresola and hit him on the side of the head, killing him. Truman was taking a nap inside the house when he heard the shootings and ran to the window to see Collazo on the front steps. He was ordered to get down by a White House guard. Collazo was originally sentenced to death, but Truman reduced the penalty to life imprisonment, which was later commuted by President Carter.

9. Mehmet Ali Agca tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981, after escaping from a Turkish prison in which he was sentenced to for murdering Turkish journalist Abdi Ipekci. Agca shot the pope and wounded him in the abdomen, left hand and right arm. Although he has never explained his motives, there have been claims made that the K.G.B. and Bulgarian intelligence were involved. Agca was linked to the Turkish ultranationalist group, called the Grey Wolves. Agca was sentenced to 19 years for attempted murder and served his time in Italian prisons, but finished his 10-year term in Turkey for murdering Ipekci. He was released from prison in January 2010.

10. Frank Eugene Corder tried to kill President Bill Clinton and his family by flying a stolen single-engine Cessna into the White House lawn on Sept. 12, 1994. Corder was trying to hit the White House, but the plane’s power shut off and crashed through the branches of a magnolia tree, killing him. The Clintons were not at home and were staying across the street at the Blair House while the White House was undergoing repairs. Corder was a 38-year-old truck driver from Maryland, who had been suffering from alcoholism, financial problems, a drug conviction and a broken marriage. One of Corder’s friends said that he had once talked about flying a plane into the White House as a suicide mission, but Corder’s intent is still uncertain to law enforcement.

* Today’s article courtesy of our good friends at Onlinedegree.net.

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Writers’ Police Academy

Registration for the 2011 Writers’ Police Academy is now open. You do not want to miss this one of a kind event!

Writers’ Police Academy

Guilford Technical Community College and Public Safety Training Academy

Jamestown, N.C.

September 23-25, 2011

*     *     *

We’ve just added some new workshops and experts to the lineup!

Cold Case Investigations

Bloodstain Pattern Investigations

3D Laser Scanning

(experts show you how it’s done in the field using actual equipment)

How about tours of the local jail?

Ride-a-longs with sheriff’s deputies?

Have we got some surprises in store for you!

Southland: The Winds

“Southland cops know when the Santa Ana winds blow you learn just how close you are to the edge.”

All cops have that certain something that sets them off. A nemesis. The thing that causes them to look over their shoulder, watching and waiting for the boogie man. A gut feeling? Perhaps.

Mine was a full moon. The glowing, round ball in the night sky that brings all the crazies out to play. And, like “the winds to Southland cops,” a full moon never failed to take me close to the edge. Well, actually, the edge never waited for me to come to it. Instead, the edge came to me…at full throttle. And there was no getting away from it. Ever.

This episode of Southland was all about the things that live inside a cop’s mind. The things that claw and scratch at the inside of his skull, trying to find a way out. Any way out. Needing to get out before it’s too late.

Sometimes the “things” make it out and all is well. But sometimes the incessant gnawing never stops. Not until the faint chanter and drone of bagpipes is heard approaching from somewhere far in the distance. The sound that lets you know you’ve finally gone over the edge.

Cooper’s troubles are just that…trouble. Living with chronic back pain is pure misery. Working with chronic back pain, especially as a veteran cop who’s addicted to pain medication, is even worse. And that combination is like the ultimate sin for a police officer. How can you arrest people for doing the same things you do every day? And, how can you teach a rookie officer to be a good cop when you yourself are an addict? Cooper knows, as we saw in this episode, that the only difference between him and the guy in the back alley shoving a needle in his arm, is the uniform.

I wanted to stand up and applaud Michael Cudlitz a few times during this show for his portrayal of the human side of a police officer. Not many people have the opportunity to see the emotional aspect of a police officer’s life. It’s not all handcuffs, patrol cars, and non-stop action. Somewhere in between, a cop has a life.

– Lydia and Josie are back at it again, in a pissing contest over who’s handling a rape victim the right way.

Be tough. Lie to the victim just to get her testify? That’s Josie’s M.O. Lydia thinks they should build a case on other evidence and not rely on the victim’s shaky statements and testimony.

Lydia said (to Josie), “Lying to a suspect is one thing, but doing the same thing to get a victim to testify is wicked.” I agree.

First of all, the questions they asked the rape victim were good questions—Did the attacker speak? Any accent? Clothing? Etc.? Having the victim identify her attacker using a six-pack line up was also great detail.

And the differences in the investigation styles of both detectives was a nice touch (I still think the Josie character is bad for the show and bad for the Lydia character). Josie clearly had a malignant case of tunnel-vision, which happens sometimes. Lydia, on the other hand, wanted to build a case from the ground up, seeing the case in a panoramic view.

The rape victim had that “something’s not quite right” vibe to her from the very beginning. I told my wife early on that the woman was lying about the rape to cover for an affair. Why did I come to this conclusion so early? Simple. I’ve seen this very scenario in real life several times over the years. Yes, it happens.

Sure enough, this selfish woman had risked an innocent man’s life and family to cover up her affair with a tennis pro. Needless to say, I was pleased to see her arrested for filing a false police report.

Cooper arrests the driver of a van for operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs. The guy readily admitted to taking prescribed medication for a knee problem. He was taking the medication to help alleviate pain while he was waiting for knee replacement surgery. Legal medication, taken as prescribed. Ben clearly didn’t agree with John’s decision. After all, John is taking the same medication for severe pain. To make matters worse, John drives a police car while he’s under the influence of the medication.

One point…prior to stopping the van for DUI, Ben asks dispatch for wants and warrants on the vehicle. Officers routinely do this when making a traffic stop. That’s much-needed information—if the driver is wanted, or if the vehicle is stolen—that could very well save an officer’s life. Wanted people are dangerous. So are people who drive stolen cars.

When approaching the van, John checked the rear door to see if it was closed. An open door could indicate an ambush situation. Great detail. Also, John was constantly watching the rear compartment of the van. Any movement back there could be cause for alarm. Not being able to see inside a vehicle during a traffic stop is a scary situation, especially at night.

Ben obviously fears that John is going to steal some of the pain meds they confiscated from the DUI driver. John realizes it and dives on Ben with both feet, mentioning his 19-years of stellar service by saying, “You try wearing a Sam Browne for 19 years.” He also pointed out the correct and complete inventory of the pills. Ironically, my post yesterday was about “the Sam Browne.”

And then there’s the kid.

His parents moved out while he was away, leaving him all alone to fend for himself. John takes a special interest in the boy, sensing a few similarities between his life as a kid and the boy’s current situation. This boy didn’t choose the direction his life had taken. He’d been dealt a bad hand and didn’t have a clue as to how it should be played.

Cops are faced with situations like this all the time and it breaks their hearts. It one of the toughest aspects of the job.

Later in the show John plays video games with the boy while waiting for someone from social services to come for him. When they arrive, the kid hugs John and asks him to please adopt him. This was quite realistic. The boy was honest, sincere, and definitely in need of someone to care about him. Again, I’ve been there. Children in these circumstances sometimes see the officer as someone who saved them from disaster. So they cling to their “hero.” Or, the officer is a sort of safety net, since he’s the only person the child knows in a room full of authority-figure strangers. Either way, this is a scenario that must be handled delicately. The child is extremely fragile. In this case, I’m not so sure that John wasn’t just as fragile as the boy. John’s nerves are nearly as tight as banjo strings, and getting tighter.

And then there was this kid, the boy who called 911 because his mother spanked him with a belt. John quickly summed up this kid as spoiled, bratty, and selfish. Totally unlike the other boy who deserved John’s compassion. This one did not.

Finally, John has to face two devils. First, he speaks out at his father’s parole hearing, saying his dad deserved to remain in prison until the day he died. Next, he finds himself at the bottom of his drug addiction barrel, digging spilled pills out of the dirt and hungrily shoving the filthy tablets into his mouth.

The ghouls are clawing hard at the inside of John’s skull. They want out. The question is, will John find a way to release them? Or, will he soon hear the bagpipes?

A cops life is not all shootouts, chases, and fighting. There’s the day-to-day stuff that must be handled. And there’s the stuff that works on your heart and your emotions. That’s work, too.

Again, another great episode that showed a side of cops the public rarely sees. This is truly one of the best cop shows that’s ever been on TV.

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Registration for the 2011 Writers’ Police Academy is now open. You do not want to miss this one of a kind event!

Writers’ Police Academy

Guilford Technical Community College and Public Safety Training Academy

Jamestown, N.C.

September 23-25, 2011

*     *     *

We’ve just added some new workshops and experts to the lineup!

Cold Case Investigtions

Bloodstain Pattern Investigations

3D Laser Scanning (we’re going to show you how it’s done in the field using actual equipment)

How about tours of the local jail?

Ride-a-longs with the sheriff’s office?

Have we got some surprises in store for you!

Officers Gun Belt

Try this. Attach a twenty-five-pound weight to a 2 1/4 inch strip of nylon, or leather. Then wrap that super heavy strap around your waist, hook it to your regular belt, and then run a few sprints, climb a fence or two, wrestle three or four angry men, fight a guy who’s trying to stab you with a screwdriver, stand in the middle of a busy intersection in the pouring rain for two hours while waving cars through at well-timed intervals, walk 10 or 15 miles, chase a young kid for 10 blocks, and…well, you get the idea. It ain’t easy. But that’s what police officers do every single day of their lives. Yep, they strap their toolboxes to their waists and head out for work.

So what are all those things hanging from an officer’s gun belt (aka duty belt, or Sam Browne belt)? Let’s see…

An officer’s gun belt is normally made from leather or nylon. Each item is strategically placed on the belt for easy use.

Left – flashlight holder, or ring. Belt keepers (right) are thin strips of leather or nylon used to hold the gun belt to the officer’s regular belt. They prevent the gun belt from sliding down around the officer’s ankles. Now that could be pretty embarrassing.

Belt keepers positioned between handcuff cases. I wore four belt keepers. Other officers may use more, or less. It’s a matter of personal preference.

.40 cal. Glock and nylon holster

Glock, magazine, and hollow point ammunition

Double magazine pouch and spare magazines

Two pairs of hinged cuffs and double cuff case

Hinged cuffs and key

ASP expandable baton

Mini flashlight and case

Portable radio and case

Pepperspray and case

Taser

* Interesting point – Bathroom breaks. The belt has to come off, which means undoing the keepers, etc. Then, suppose an emergency arises during the break. It all has to go back on. Including tucking in the tails (sort of like shirt tails) of the vest carrier.

Kevlar vest. The blue material is actually a carrier that holds the Kevlar panels in place. Having a separate carrier allows the portion of the vest (carrier) that’s next to the skin (the blue, canvas-like material) to be washed.

Kevlar cannot be washed (wiping it down is okay).

Kevlar insert (this is the front section that’s inserted into the blue carrier on the left in the previous photo).