Would-be Wallace assassin released from prison News
Would-be Wallace assassin released from prison

[JURIST] The man who shot and paralyzed former Alabama Governor George Wallace [ADAH profile] in 1972 was released from a Maryland prison [press release, PDF] Friday. Under the conditions set by the state for the release of Arthur Bremer [PBS profile], he must:

  • Stay away from any local, state, federal, or foreign elected official or office holder as well as a current candidate;
  • Undergo a mental health evaluation and treatment if necessary;
  • Not leave the State of Maryland to go to another state or the District of Columbia without the express written permission of the Maryland Parole Commission; and
  • Must submit to electronic monitoring which is to be monitored by any law enforcement agency specified by the Maryland Parole Commission.
  • Maryland state law allows inmates to earn credits to shorten the length of a sentence spent in prison. He will remain under the supervision of Maryland parole agents until his sentence officially ends June 15, 2025.

    Bremer, who served 35 years of his 53-year term behind bars, was released due to good behavior and his working a part-time job in prison. Prison officials first reported in late August that Bremer would be released this year. The Alabama Attorney General's Office said that it would try to prevent the early release [JURIST report], but Maryland officials warned that any such effort would fail due to Maryland state regulations. Bremer has never expressed any remorse for the shooting, calling Wallace a "segregationist dinosaur." In his diary, Bremer wrote that his primary motivation for the shooting was not opposition to Wallace's pro-segregation politics, but a desire to become notorious. Wallace died in 1998. AP has more. The Baltimore Sun has local coverage.