After thirty-four years in prison, Lynette ‘Squeaky’ Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, was released from Federal Custody the morning of Friday, August 14.

In September 1975, Fromme aimed a gun at President Gerald Ford in Sacramento.  The gun was loaded, but there was not a bullet in the chamber at the time.  Secret Service Agents grabbed her and no gun was fired.

“[Fromme] felt there were a number of injustices in the world, primarily the continued incarceration of Manson and his followers for murder,” wrote biographer Jess Bravin. “She also considered herself to be an environmentalist.

To Fromme, President Ford “symbolized this unjust society,” Bravin continued.  “She said she had no personal anger toward Gerald Ford. … By assaulting him, she could seize attention for these issues.”

In 1987, Fromme escaped from a West Virginia’s women’s prison, but was recaptured in two days after a massive manhunt.  She claimed she was trying to get closer to Charles Manson after rumors he was dying (Manson remains alive and incarcerated in California).  Following the escape attempt she was incarcerated in a maximum security section of the Fort Worth Texas Federal Prison.

Fromme was granted parole in July 2008, but held for an additional year because of the escape.  She will be under supervised release for two years.  No details about her future plans or whereabouts have been released.  She’s sixty years old.

Fromme had no direct involvement in the family murders.  When Manson and other members of the family were jailed she became head of the family and branded her forehead with an X as a demonstration of loyalty to Manson.

Obviously the courts have decided that she’s served her time. Her release is scary, however, because she has always remained loyal to Charles Manson.  Before her incarceration she moved to the areas of California outside of the prisons where he was held.  She has never expressed regret for her actions.  Her 1987 escape showed that he is still a powerful force in her life.  Many expect her to return to California to be near him again.

It’s been forty years since the Manson family murders.  Six former members of the Manson cult remain in prison.  In 2008, former member and convicted murderer Susan Atkins asked for compassionate release from prison following the diagnosis of terminal cancer.  She was denied.

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