Arthur Bremer
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Arthur Bremer
Arthur Herman Bremer (born 21 August 1950) shot Democratic presidential candidate George Wallace on 15 May 1972 in Laurel, Maryland, leaving Wallace paralyzed for life.
Bremer was sentenced to 63 years in prison for the shooting.
At the time of the shooting, the blond-haired Bremer was dressed in patriotic red, white, and blue and wearing a Wallace campaign button. At approximately 4:00 pm, Bremer opened fire, emptying the weapon before he could be subdued. He hit Wallace four times, and wounded three other people: Alabama State Trooper Captain E. C. Dothard (Wallace's personal bodyguard), Dora Thompson, a Wallace campaign volunteer, and Nick Zarvos, a Secret Service agent.
Before his brush with infamy, the 21-year-old Bremer had worked as a busboy and a janitor's assistant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In November 1971, only seven months before he would shoot Wallace, Bremer was charged with carrying a concealed weapon.
Many media outlets initially reported Bremer to be a "loner." This was inaccurate, as Bremer did have several friends in Milwaukee, including Dennis Cassini. However, authorities were never able to question Cassini, as he was found dead of a heroin overdose, locked inside the trunk of his car.
Part of Bremer's diary was published as An Assassin's Diary.
Despite the existence of many conspiracy theories, no one other than Bremer has ever been charged in connection with the shooting.
Ironically and tragically, Bremer was the inspiration for the character Travis Bickle, played by Robert DeNiro, in Taxi Driver, a movie that would later inspire John Hinckley, Jr. to shoot President Ronald Reagan.