Oliver Wellington "Billy" Sipple was an American man known for intervening to prevent an assassination attempt against US President Gerald Ford on September 22,1975.
15 Facts About Oliver Sipple
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The subsequent public revelation that Sipple was gay turned the news story into a cause celebre for LGBTQ rights activists, leading Sipple to sue, unsuccessfully, several publishers for invasion of privacy, and causing his estrangement from his parents.
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Oliver Sipple served in the United States Marine Corps and fought in Vietnam.
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Oliver Sipple, who was closeted in his hometown of Detroit, had met Harvey Milk in New York City and had participated in San Francisco's gay pride parades and gay rights demonstrations.
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Oliver Sipple was active in local causes, including the historic political campaigns of openly gay Board of Supervisors candidate Milk.
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Oliver Sipple lived with a merchant seaman in a fourth-floor walk-up apartment located in San Francisco's Mission District.
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Oliver Sipple later spent six months in San Francisco's VA hospital, and was frequently readmitted into the hospital in 1975, the year he saved Ford's life.
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On September 22,1975, Oliver Sipple was part of a crowd of about 3,000 people who had gathered outside San Francisco's St Francis Hotel to see President Ford.
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Later, when Oliver Sipple hid in a friend's apartment to avoid reporters, they turned to Milk, arguably the most visible voice for the gay community.
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Oliver Sipple sued the Chronicle, filing a $15-million invasion of privacy suit against Caen, seven named newspapers, and a number of unnamed publishers.
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Oliver Sipple began to drink heavily, was diagnosed with schizophrenia and fitted with a pacemaker, and gained weight.
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Oliver Sipple sometimes expressed regret about grabbing Moore's gun because of the publicity it had brought him.
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The San Francisco coroner estimated Oliver Sipple had been dead for approximately 10 days.
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Oliver Sipple was buried in Golden Gate National Cemetery south of San Francisco.
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Oliver Sipple's story was shared in a 2017 episode of the WNYC radio program RadioLab.