Talk:List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots

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beans[edit]

"William Clyde Allen III, a U.S. Navy veteran, sent a letter containing castor beans to President Trump"

I put it to you that this cannot be considered an assassination attempt.Ordinary Person (talk) 12:20, 7 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I agree this is not an assassination attempt in any way and should be removed from this list — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:C0:C880:4F80:D548:65F2:E798:A995 (talk) 17:49, 5 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Clearing of version from publicly-viewable article history[edit]

I reverted this article after a 7/6 edit included unsourced and false information that named a living person and jokingly accused them of a serious crime. I think that the version that includes this vandalism should not be publicly visible. Rcondron2002 (talk) 22:39, 6 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

When is an assassination attempt not an assassination attempt?[edit]

How about when judge, Jed S. Rakoff of Federal District Court in Manhattan, said he had concluded that Mr. Sayoc, though no firearms expert, was capable of concocting a pipe bomb that could explode and had consciously chosen not to". FDW777 (talk) 20:29, 11 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

What else would we call it? A simulated, highly plausible assassination "attempt"?

A hoax? See Bomb threat. FDW777 (talk) 07:05, 13 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

From the NYT link you shared: "An F.B.I. explosives expert, Kevin D. Finnerty, testified at the sentencing the devices would not have functioned as designed, but were capable of exploding if mishandled"; "Jane Kim, a prosecutor, said... that had Mr. Sayoc intended the bombs to be hoaxes, he could have packed them with sand, but he chose to use glass fragments." From Washingtonian: "Investigators discovered that Sayoc’s van, which doubled as his home, was plastered with pro-Trump posters. Inside, they found evidence of an unhinged man with a political obsession: a Trump-Pence T-shirt pulled over the passenger seat, headshots of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton tossed among the clutter, and page after page of chilling writings, including “Kill your enemy.”"..."in pleading guilty, Sayoc admitted being aware of the risk that they might explode."[1] The entry could be couched with the judge's conclusion, but I don't think it should be removed. Fences&Windows 09:39, 13 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

At the end of the day a prosecutor's job is to try and lock people up for as long as possible, so simply because they say something doesn't make it true. How about the LA Times? Prior to hearing from lawyers, Rakoff questioned two bomb experts and two doctors who examined Sayoc. The bomb experts, one an FBI agent and one hired by the defense, agreed Sayoc’s packages were not configured to explode. As the judge noted, the clocks were not set and wires were not attached. There's a substantial difference between agreeing something might explode if mishandled and it being a deliberate assassination attempt on a president. FDW777 (talk) 15:34, 21 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Joe Biden[edit]

There have been several attempts to add two cases of threats against Joe Biden to the article. But they were threats that were made in October 2020, when he was still a candidate. This article is supposed to be about threats against sitting U.S. Presidents. So I have removed the Joe Biden sections. I'm coming here to explain why. -- MelanieN (talk) 19:19, 5 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Necessary detail for entries[edit]

What should every entry in the section "Assassination attempts and plots" have? My ideas:

For the attacker's background, his name, age, occupation and state of residence.
Every entry should describe the motive in sufficient detail. "Mentally ill" or "political extremist" are too broad. State whether the attacker was sane or insane, unless already implied.
If the plot was a conspiracy, describe the conspirators.
The location and date of the attack are also necessary, the weapon used, casualties and how the incident ended.
The rest of the attacker's life, including his criminal sentence.
Where the president was at the time and what he was doing. It is also important to mention, if true, that the attacker was not actually near the president.
The historical significance and aftermath of the attempted assassination, and any noteworthy firsts, such as "first attempted assassination by an Islamist extremist" (not yet noted in the article) or "only assassination attempt to use a forklift as a weapon" (see section Donald Trump). — Preceding unsigned comment added by OneToZero (talk • contribs) 01:54, 31 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Alexander Hillel Treisman[edit]

I feel we should probably add the event that happened a year ago, in which a pedophile named Alexander Hillel Treisman got only a couple of blocks away from Joe Biden's house with an AR-15 and stated online that he was going to kill him. It seems relevant because of how close he got to the Biden home, and the fact that he faces additional criminal charges in regards to child pornography. HumanHistory1 (talk) 15:18, 4 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Biden was a candidate at the time, so it doesn't count. OneToZero (talk) 23:47, 4 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Missing President![edit]

Where's Reagan!? You know, the guy who was ACTUALLY shot? 76.102.196.178 (talk) 23:01, 6 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

You mean under the heading "presidents wounded"? Please read the entire article before posting here. Acroterion (talk) 23:16, 6 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Threats[edit]

Should there be a section for "credible threats"? For instance, one George Todsen threatened to kill President John Quincy Adams, and the threat was taken seriously by Adams' security (Although Adams did not take it seriously). He even approached the White House where Adams told him off. AlfLandonFan (talk) 18:05, 28 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I would say it goes beyond the scope of the article to include threats that weren't acted on. If Todsen approached the White House but didn't actually attempt anything with Adams, it doesn't seem that notable, and if he did, then it was an attempt that could already be included in this list. Admittedly it's fuzzy between a single person's threat and a "plot". Jerodast (talk) 07:43, 18 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]