January 17, 2019
Volume 49 - No. 03
By Friedrich Gomez
At precisely 2:42 p.m. on Monday, March 30, 1981, all television programming was abruptly interrupted with an emergency newscast: “PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN HAS BEEN SHOT IN AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT!!” All major American television networks began airing shocking footage of the assassination attempt. Global news would The Paper - 760.747.7119
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soon follow. It seemed a surreal moment in time when the world stood still. Shockwaves stunned the nervous system of millions of Americans everywhere as they quickly gathered around television sets in homes and even at shopping centers. Only 68 days into his presidency, Ronald Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley, Jr. in Washington, D. C., as they were leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton
Hotel. Reagan had just delivered a luncheon address to AFL-CIO representatives. UNKNOWN FACTS & FAULTY SECURITY. As with any such occasion, the White House Secret Service took every precaution they deemed necessary to safeguard the president. As one of the highest trained security forces in the world, they would leave no stone unturned in creating an impenetrable shield of safety for the leader of the Western World.
Or so they thought.
At the conclusion of his speech, at approximately 1:45 p.m., the president and his entourage began exiting the hotel from what the Secret Service considered the safest, most secured, enclosed passageway called “The President’s Walk,” which was built after the 1961 assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Normally, the Secret Service would have required the presi-
Reagan’s Secret Weapon - See Page 2