Samuel Joseph Byck (January 30, 1930 – February 22, 1974) was an American hijacker and attempted assassin. On February 22, 1974, he attempted to hijack a plane flying out of Baltimore/Washington International Airport, intending to crash into the White House in the hopes of killing U.S. President Richard Nixon. Byck killed an airport policeman and the plane's copilot and wounded the pilot, but Byck was shot and wounded by another policeman before committing suicide.
Early life
Born to poor Jewish parents in South Philadelphia, Byck dropped out of high school in the ninth grade in order to support his impoverished family. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1954 and was honorably discharged in 1956. He married shortly thereafter, and fathered four children. He admitted himself to a psychiatric ward, for a two-month stay. Byck began to harbor the belief that the Nixon administration was conspiring to oppress the poor.
Byck came to the notice of the Secret Service in 1972, when he threatened Nixon, He planned to assassinate Nixon by hijacking an airliner and crashing it into the White House on a day when Nixon would be there. It has been suggested (for instance, by the 2004 film dramatization of his life) that Byck was inspired by news reports of the landing at the White House by U.S. Army soldier Robert K. Preston in a stolen UH-1B Huey helicopter on February 17.
Because he was already known to the Secret Service and his legal attempts to purchase a firearm might have resulted in increased scrutiny, Byck stole a Smith & Wesson Model 17 .22-caliber revolver from his friend to use in the hijacking. All through this process, Byck made audio recordings explaining his motives and his plans; he expected to be considered a hero for his actions and wanted to fully document his reasons for the assassination.
On Friday morning, February 22, 1974, Byck drove to the Baltimore/Washington International Airport. Shortly after 7:00 a.m. EST, he shot and killed Maryland Aviation Administration policeman George Neal Ramsburg before storming a DC-9, Delta Air Lines Flight 523 to Atlanta, which he chose because it was the closest flight that was ready to take off. After the pilots told him they still could not take off until wheel blocks were removed, he shot them both and grabbed a nearby passenger, ordering her to "fly the plane". Jones died as he was being removed from the aircraft after the event was concluded; Loftin survived the attack. Two of the shots penetrated the thick window of the aircraft door and wounded Byck. However, before the police could gain entry to the plane, Byck shot himself fatally in the head. A review of records disclosed that Byck had been arrested twice for protesting in front of the White House without a permit and that he later dressed in a Santa Claus suit for another protest.
Legacy
Byck was buried at the Mount Jacob Cemetery in Glenolden, Pennsylvania.
After Byck's failed assassination attempt and subsequent death, he faded into relative obscurity, except among members of security organizations. One of the long-term consequences of Byck's failed hijacking was that it, along with several other failed and successful hijackings, helped spur the implementation of new security measures for airlines and airports.
The 9/11 Commission Report mentioned Byck's attempted assassination of Nixon on page 561 in note 21:
In popular culture
Byck is one of the (failed) assassins portrayed in Stephen Sondheim's and John Weidman's 1991 musical Assassins. His role in the musical is built largely around his tapes sent to Leonard Bernstein and other public figures, which he is depicted recording during two scene-length monologues, the first addressed to Bernstein and the second to Nixon himself. Byck also wears a Santa Claus suit throughout the play in reference to an incident where he did so while protesting Nixon on Christmas Eve in 1973.
A film based on his story, The Assassination of Richard Nixon, was released in 2004. The film starred Sean Penn as Bicke (the surname spelling having been changed).