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Looking back at George Wallace's assassination attempt in Laurel
In 1972, there was an attempted assassination against presidential hopeful George Wallace in Laurel, MD. FOX 5's Bob Barnard looks back.
LAUREL, Md. - As the shock of the attempt on Trump's life still reverberates across the nation, many here in the D.C. area remember another near-assassination of a presidential candidate more than 50 years ago: the shooting of Alabama Governor George Wallace in Laurel, Maryland.
Wallace was shot and seriously wounded in the spring of 1972 at the Laurel Shopping Center on Route 1.
Wallace was the governor of Alabama running for the Democratic nomination for president in 1972 when he held a rally in Laurel ahead of the Maryland primary. It was May 15, 1972. After speaking to the crowd of about one thousand people, Wallace stepped off the stage, took off his jacket and wandered into the crowd in the parking lot at the Laurel Shopping Center. Moments later, 21-year-old Arthur Bremer of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, pulled out a handgun and opened fire.
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FOX 5 1992: A look back at the attempted assassination of George Wallace
From the FOX 5 archives, this package looks back 20 years earlier to the 1972 attempted assassination of George Wallace in Laurel, MD.
Wallace survived the assassination attempt but was paralyzed from the waist down. Months later, he was asked whether he thought there was a conspiracy or if Bremer acted alone.
"I don’t think he was a loner but the FBI, who I have a lot of confidence in, says he was a loner and all this is in my mind and in the minds of other people and in the minds of some of you because you’ve asked the question," said Wallace.
The Laurel Shopping Center today looks different than it did 52 years ago. Some people know of the history made here, others do not.
"Of course, I watch a lot of the news. I saw the activity take place, and when I moved here to Laurel, of course everybody... it was not that close to the time it took place, but people would say, you know, if you go to the shopping center on Montrose that's where George Wallace was shot," said Laurel resident Joseph Camardese. "Not a proud thing to be a part of Laurel history for sure... but you know... interesting. Those things happen."
Years after the shooting, Wallace would reflect that what happened in Laurel ended his presidential aspirations:
"What stopped me was five bullets. Five bullets. Bang bang bang bang."