John Schrank, Samuel Byck, Lynette Fromme, Sara Jane Moore, Vladimir Arutyunian, and Thomas Crooks all have something in common. Any idea what that might be? What if I added the name John Hinckley, Jr. to the list. Did that help? What these people all have in common is that they attempted to assassinate a President of the United States. I said attempted. Their attempts ended in failure and the president lived.
John Schrank tried to kill Theodore Roosevelt on October 14, 1912. Though he pled guilty, the judge sentenced him to the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane where he lived the last 31 years of his life. Supposedly, the ghost of assassinated President William McKinley appeared to Schrank, blaming Roosevelt for his death and telling Schrank that he needed to avenge Roosevelt.
Long before the events of 9/11, Samuel Byck attempted to hijack a plane on February 22, 1974, with the intent of flying it into the White House. The purpose was to kill President Richard Nixon. Before the plane could even get into the air, police shot and wounded Byck. Rather than being captured, Byck took a gun and turned it on himself, committing suicide.
President Gerald Ford must’ve wondered what he had gotten himself in to because the attempts on his life were carried out just 17 days apart. On September 5, 1975, Lynette Fromme planned to shoot Ford with a Colt M1911 .45 caliber pistol. The gun wouldn’t go off, and the Secret Service dropped her to the ground. She received a life sentence and was
paroled on August 14, 2009.
Sara Moore, on September 22, 1975, tried to kill Ford with a .38. Her reason was to incite a revolution that would overthrow the government in retaliation for Vietnam. Moore also received a life sentence and was paroled on December 31, 2007.
On May 10, 2005, Vladimir Arutyunian attempted to kill President George W. Bush and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili with a grenade. The grenade didn’t detonate and Arutyunian is serving a life sentence in Georgia. Should he ever be released for any reason, the United States has extradition privileges to bring him here to finish out that sentence.
We can’t forget seeing President Trump being shot in Butler, Pennsylvania by Thomas Crooks. On July 13, 2024, Crooks took aim at the then-former President with an AR-15 and took the shot, grazing the ear and killing an attendee at the rally. The Secret Service eliminated the threat.
Why the focus on this today? On June 21, 1982, John Hinckley, Jr., who had shot President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981, was found “not guilty by reason of insanity.” On the day Reagan wa
s shot “in front of the Washington Hilton, Hinckley had fired six shots at the president, hitting Reagan and three of his attendants, including Press Secretary James Brady, who was shot in the head and suffered permanent brain damage. The president was shot in the left lung and the .22-caliber bullet just missed his heart.
“In the trial, Hinckley’s defense attorneys argues that their client was ill with narcissistic personality disorder, citing medical evidence, and had a pathological obsession with the 1976 film Taxi Driver, in which the main character attempts to assassinate a fictional senator. His lawyers claimed that Hinckley had watched the movie more than a dozen times, was obsessed with the lead actress, Jodie Foster, and had attempted to reenact the events of the film in his own life. The movie, not Hinckley, they successfully argued, was the actual planning force behind the events that occurred on March 30, 1981.”1
Hinckley became a resident of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. On June 15, 2022, Hinckley received an unconditional release. At the age of 71, he now lives in Williamsburg, Virginia where he paints, writes, and performs music.
Let’s bring these historical assassination attempts to the Scripture and see what the Bible has to say. 1 Samuel 24:1-4 gives us an interesting story. “And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. (2) Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. (3) And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave. (4) And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.”
Saul had been hunting for David with a desire to assassinate the future king. David and his men are holed up in a cave when Saul comes in to relieve himself. “Went in to cover his feet” is a euphemism that most commentators agree means that Saul needed to – how can I say this delicately? – he needed to leave a gastrointestinal biological waste deposit. While in the midst of a grunt and a strain, David sneaks up in the dark and while holding his breath, he discreetly cuts off a piece of Saul’s garment. The purpose was to let Saul know that he could have just as easily been assassinated. How embarrassing it would have been for his men to have found him in that condition?!?
Conviction, though, hit David with the power of Saul’s noxious fumes, knocking him over and making his soul sick. 1 Samuel 24:5-12 says, “And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. (6) And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD. (7) So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way. (8) David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself. (9) And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? (10) Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’S anointed. (11) Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. (12) The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.”
We have a greater responsibility to the world leaders, even to those with whom we disagree. Let’s make our prayers for them a Biblical prayer like Psalms 72:1. This is a Psalm of another king, King Solomon. I’m sure he would have appreciated people praying this for him.
“Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.”
1https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-21/hinckley-not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity
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