10 unsuccessful assassinations of heads of state and monarchs in the last 50 years

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

For many decades and even centuries, heads of state and monarchs have been constantly at risk. Despite numerous guards and unprecedented security measures, madmen try again and again to eliminate important political figures, hoping in this way to eradicate the cause of the economic downturn, deteriorating life, or simply loudly declare themselves and go down in history, even in such a strange way.

Mikhail Gorbachev

During the November 1990 festive demonstration, an attempt was made on the life of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who was standing on the platform of the mausoleum. A locksmith from the Izhora plant, Alexander Shmonov, shot at him from a sawn-off shotgun. Thanks to the quick reaction of the senior police sergeant Andrei Mylnikov, the shots were inaccurate, and the gunman was detained by the KGB officers. The criminal saw in Mikhail Gorbachev the culprit in the establishment of a totalitarian regime in the Soviet Union. The 28-year-old locksmith was found mentally ill and sent to compulsory treatment. And four years later, after leaving the hospital, Shmonov began to fight punitive psychiatry and declared himself a victim.

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan served as President of the United States for only 69 days when, after speaking at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, he was walking towards his car and heard gunfire. Reagan was promptly taken away from the scene, but he was still wounded. Criminal John Hinckley Jr. decided to become famous as a criminal in order to attract the attention of actress Jodie Forster, with whom he was passionately in love. As a result of the assassination attempt, in addition to the President of the United States, three more people were injured, including the press secretary James Brady, who was left disabled due to a serious head injury. The offender was recognized as mentally ill and the next 35 years of his life, until 2016, he spent in the clinic on compulsory treatment. He is currently at large, but with some restrictions.

Elizabeth II

17-year-old Sergeant Markus decided to become famous by assassinating Queen Elizabeth II during the Trooping the Color ceremony on June 13, 1981. True, he used blank cartridges for this, and as a result of the assassination attempt, only the queen's horse was injured, frightened of the shots. By the way, the young criminal was inspired by the murder of John Lennon, which made Mark Chapman famous. The sergeant did not gain much fame, but was sentenced to five years in prison, in fact having served only three.

And just four months later, a second assassination attempt was made on the queen, this time in New Zealand. And again as a 17-year-old teenager who shot at Elizabeth II and her wife with a rifle. Fortunately, Christopher Lewis missed, and the authorities could not prove the fact of the attempt, and the criminal received only three years, and even then not for an attempt, but for possession and use of weapons in a public place.

Bill clinton

There were three attempts on the life of the US president in 1994. Ronald Jean Barbour could not commit suicide and decided to put an end to Clinton, however, the latter was not in the country, and the boasting of weapons and his plans interested the special services, and the hapless criminal went to prison for five years.

Even less fortunate was Frank Eugene Corder, who infiltrated the airspace above the White House. He simply crashed during landing. The relatives of Corder later told about the deepest depression, which led to the attempted assassination attempt in order to gain fame.

In October, hotel employee Francisco Martin Durand fired about 30 shots towards the White House while Bill Clinton was there. Fortunately, no one was hurt during the assassination attempt, and the perpetrator was arrested.

Jacques Chirac

During the celebration of Bastille Day in June 2002, Jacques Chirac was able to avoid death only thanks to the intervention of ordinary tourists. When they noticed that Maxim Bruneri took out a rifle from a guitar case, one of the tourists managed to direct the barrel up, and the second disarmed the criminal and laid him on the ground. The perpetrator, suffering from mental illness, announced his assassination attempt online, but no one took it seriously. After two years of investigation, Maxim Bruneri was sentenced to 10 years in prison, was released five years later and declared that he had no intention of assassinating the president.

Queen Beatrix

It is not known what were the motives for the crime that killed seven people and injured ten in the city of Apeldoorn in the Netherlands on 30 April 2009. In the midst of Queen's Day, Karst R. Tates sent his car into the crowd, passing very close to the royal motorcade, and crashed into the monument. The offender died in the hospital a day later, having managed to state before that that Queen Beatrix was the target of the assassination.

Barack Obama

The loudest of all attempts on the life of Barack Obama is the case of James Everett Dutchke. He sent poison letters to several politicians, including Barack Obama, in 2013. The dangerous messages did not reach the addressees, and the offender was identified and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

One person can change the course of history, and there is plenty of evidence for that. However, this also implies the opposite statement that the disappearance of one person who plays an important role in the political arena can play a key role for the whole history. No wonder that top officials of states and cult politicians become victims of assassination attempts, including successful ones.