It’s an irony of history.
This Thursday is the 53rd anniversary of the shooting of Alabama Governor and presidential candidate George Wallace. It is also the day that convicted shooter Arthur Bremer will be a free man. It’s the end of his mandatory supervised release.
Bremer has been out of prison since 2007, but has been living in Maryland on supervised parole. He was required to live under 24-hour-a-day electronic monitoring, avoid all elected officials and candidates, undergo mental evaluations and secure advance permission before leaving Maryland. Bremer appears to have successfully completed that parole, and it is over on May 15. He will be out from under the jurisdiction of the State of Maryland for the first time since May 15, 1972, when he was arrested for the attempted murder of Wallace and the wounding of three others at the Wallace rally in Laurel, Maryland, 53 years ago.
There will be no court appearance, no ceremony, no observance at all on May 15 to mark either the end of Bremer’s debt to society or to mark the anniversary of the shooting — a quiet ending to a violent beginning.
Arthur Bremer’s attempted assassination of Wallace during the 1972 Democratic presidential primary left Wallace permanently paralyzed. His brother Gerald Wallace, an attorney in Montgomery (now deceased), said, “George suffered every day of his life after he was shot.” He also said, “Bremer should never get out of prison as long as George is alive.” That happened, as George Wallace died on September 13, 1998.
Bremer spent 35 years in a Maryland prison and then 18 years on parole.
Once his sentence ends, Bremer, who is 74 years old, will be freed from following any conditions for parole. He can also travel anywhere, including Alabama. I wouldn’t suggest doing that.
In the sentencing before the Maryland judge, Bremer’s words were: "The prosecutor would like society to be protected from someone like me. Looking back on my life, I would have liked it if society had protected me from myself. That’s all I have to say at this time.”
Bremer now lives in Cumberland, Maryland, where he reportedly lives a quiet life and continues to avoid the spotlight and any interaction with the news media.
George Wallace lived long enough, though in intense pain, to write to Bremer and tell him that he had forgiven him.
Here is the story from Wallace’s son, George Wallace, Jr., a former Alabama State Treasurer and Public Service Commissioner, as reported by Yellowhammer News earlier this year:
“As a committed Christian, my father understood that in order to seek forgiveness from those you have wronged, you must first be willing to extend forgiveness to those who have wronged you,” Wallace said. “Without telling anyone, Dad sent a letter that was delivered to Bremer in prison, and it encouraged him to accept Jesus Christ as his savior so they could one day meet each other in Heaven. Bremer never replied, but it is one of the most remarkable acts of forgiveness that I have ever known to occur.”
There were other strange ironies about the Bremer attempt to assassinate Wallace. One concerns some of the later “Watergate Plumbers” who later organized the break-in of Democratic headquarters which ultimately triggered the fall and resignation of President Richard Nixon. These same aides schemed to break into Bremer’s Milwaukee apartment after the Wallace shooting and plant literature for Democrat presidential candidate George McGovern. Their purpose would have been to blame the McGovern campaign for the Wallace shooting. They were unable to get into the Bremer apartment because the FBI had quickly secured it after the shooting. A preview of things to come.
Another irony concerns the 1981 shooting of President Ronald Reagan. Arthur Bremer’s diary, which was found and published, served as the model for Paul Schrader’s character Travis Bickle in the movie "Taxi Driver." That character and movie were later the inspiration for John Hinkley, Jr. to shoot President Reagan. One bad deed inspires another.
With Wallace dead, Bremer finishing his sentence and Bremer forgiven by Wallace, there’s hope that no more influence and irony is forthcoming from the evil actions of Arthur Bremer.
End of sentence. End of story.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler writes about Alabama’s people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
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