VIOLENCE: Fromme: 'There Is a Gun Pointed'

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Sugar Daddy. A federal grand jury in Sacramento learned that Squeaky had got her Colt automatic from another of the elderly men that the Manson family is accustomed to flattering and fleecing. Harold Eugene Boro, 65, is a thin, balding grandfather who was divorced some 30 years ago. A retired draftsman, Boro befriended Fromme and Good, who reportedly visited him at his Sacramento apartment. Rosette Rankin, a relative of Boro's, said that he "has money, and she [Squeaky] was taking him for everything." A state intelligence official agreed that Boro was a generous friend to the young women—" 'good old Sugar Daddy'—that's what they called him." One report had it that Squeaky stole Boro's gun; another that he had given it to her for "protection."

When Squeaky's day in court arrived, she appeared in the flamboyant "nun's habit" of the Manson sisterhood —bright red robe with a cape and hood that was similar to the one she had on the day that she leveled the pistol at Ford. She was even wearing red tennis shoes. Fearing that someone might try to attack her, guards frisked everyone entering the crowded courtroom, including newsmen.

Clean Up. After being charged with attempting to assassinate the President —the first person so accused under the federal criminal statute passed in 1965 —Squeaky demanded to speak. Federal Judge Thomas J. MacBride warned her that any statement might prejudice her case. "This is more important to me," said Fromme, who has a court-appointed lawyer but hopes to carry out her own defense. "I'm the one that has to sit in the cell and worry about it." Then, clearly and forcefully, she said, "There is an army of young people and children who want to clean up the earth." She called upon MacBride to order the Government to "buy up the parks. You have jurisdiction over the redwood trees. Cutting down redwood trees is like cutting down your arms and legs." When the judge tried to silence her, Squeaky declared: "There is a gun pointed, and whether it goes off is up to you all." With that, the judge had her ejected from the courtroom. "I didn't mean to be rude," said Squeaky.

She seemed to be threatening not so much MacBride as people who, in her opinion, were damaging the environment. But she has warned another man on the bench. Judge Raymond Choate, who passed sentence on Manson, reported that about two months ago Squeaky called him to say that "she wanted to talk to me because she was going to do something desperate. She specifically said she didn't mean suicide." Choate decided that she might be threatening him and his family and called the Los Angeles district attorney's office, which took the matter "under study."

There was also a report that the Manson family had made many death threats against former Governor Ronald Reagan and his family. One undercover agent said that the Mansonites had warned they would kidnap the Reagans and "torture and behead them one by one" until Manson was released. During his last year in office (1973-74), Reagan and his family were under especially heavy guard.