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Sydney Morning Herald
11 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Sydney is a peaceful city. Law and order should prevail. Not gangs
The words 'in broad daylight' in relation to violent crimes often convey the sense that perpetrators have no respect for innocent lives, and so it is proving in Sydney with a rash of shootings in public places as our city endures a fresh gangland war. The brazenness is unprecedented. The 1980s gangland wars portrayed in the television miniseries Blue Murder and based on the novel In the Line of Fire by a former Herald editor-in-chief Darren Goodsir were fought under a kind of code of dishonour that combatants killed one another with no collateral damage. Fast-forward four decades, and the public is in the line of fire. To make matters worse, warring gangs have outsourced the killings to young thugs who shoot, burn and run with callous indifference, both to their victims and the lives of others. An innocent woman is fighting for life after being caught in the crossfire of a gangland shooting in Sydney's west, while detectives probe possible links to a spiralling turf war, burnt-out getaway cars, and reports that her assailants were respondents to a $50 'hitman-for-hire' job posted online. The daylight use of guns at Auburn's M Brothers Turkish restaurant on Monday is linked to infighting within the Alameddine crime clan and resulted in the innocent waitress being shot twice in the back, a senior member of the notorious crime group Samimjan Azari being hit in the arm and shoulder, while his bodyguard took a bullet in the face. It was the fourth attempt to assassinate Azari. He survived an attack at Brighton-Le-Sands last February. Three weeks ago, he was sitting with two others in a Toyota ute in Woodville Road, Granville, when a gunman opened fire and killed Alameddine associate Dawwod Zakaria and wounded Parramatta solicitor Sylvan Singh. Last week, he was the target of another planned hit in Rozelle, only to flee before a shot could be fired. NSW Police had tackled gang warfare but were required to move resources to Strike Force Pearl, targeting antisemitism, until establishing Taskforce Falcon to crack down on escalating gangland violence after the Toyota shooting. The system is hardly helping.
Politico
25-02-2025
- Politico
Clint Hill, Secret Service agent who leaped onto JFK's car after he was shot, dies at 93
Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent who leaped onto the back of President John F. Kennedy's limousine after the president was shot, then was forced to retire early because he remained haunted by memories of the assassination, has died. He was 93. Hill died Friday at his home in Belvedere, California, according to his publisher, Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. A cause of death was not given. Although few may recognize his name, the footage of Hill, captured on Abraham Zapruder's chilling home movie of the assassination, provided some of the most indelible images of Kennedy's assassination in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Hill received Secret Service awards and was promoted for his actions that day, but for decades blamed himself for Kennedy's death, saying he didn't react quickly enough and would gladly have given his life to save the president. 'If I had reacted just a little bit quicker. And I could have, I guess,' a weeping Hill told Mike Wallace on CBS' 60 Minutes in 1975, shortly after he retired at age 43 at the urging of his doctors. 'And I'll live with that to my grave.' It was only in recent years that Hill said he was able to finally start putting the assassination behind him and accept what happened. On the day of the assassination, Hill was assigned to protect first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and was riding on the left running board of the follow-up car directly behind the presidential limousine as it made its way through Dealey Plaza. Hill told the Warren Commission that he reacted after hearing a shot and seeing the president slump in his seat. The president was struck by a fatal headshot before Hill was able to make it to the limousine. Zapruder's film captured Hill as he leaped from the Secret Service car, grabbed a handle on the limousine's trunk and pulled himself onto it as the driver accelerated. He forced Mrs. Kennedy, who had crawled onto the trunk, back into her seat as the limousine sped off. Hill later became the agent in charge of the White House protective detail and eventually an assistant director of the Secret Service, retiring because of what he characterized as deep depression and recurring memories of the assassination. The 1993 Clint Eastwood thriller 'In the Line of Fire,' about a former Secret Service agent scarred by the JFK assassination, was inspired in part by Hill. Hill was born in 1932 and grew up in Washburn, North Dakota. He attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, served in the Army and worked as a railroad agent before joining the Secret Service in 1958. He worked in the agency's Denver office for about a year, before joining the elite group of agents assigned to protect the president and first family. Since his retirement, Hill has spoken publicly about the assassination only a handful of times, but the most poignant was his 1975 interview with Wallace, during which Hill broke down several times. 'If I had reacted about five-tenths of a second faster, maybe a second faster, I wouldn't be here today,' Hill said. 'You mean you would have gotten there and you would have taken the shot?' Wallace asked. 'The third shot, yes, sir,' Hill said. 'And that would have been all right with you?' 'That would have been fine with me,' Hill responded. In his 2005 memoir, 'Between You and Me,' Wallace recalled his interview with Hill as one of the most moving of his career. In 2006, Wallace and Hill reunited on CNN's 'Larry King Live,' where Hill credited that first 60 Minutes interview with helping him finally start the healing process. 'I have to thank Mike for asking me to do that interview and then thank him more because he's what caused me to finally come to terms with things and bring the emotions out where they surfaced,' he said. 'It was because of his questions and the things he asked that I started to recover.' Decades after the assassination, Hill co-authored several books — including 'Mrs. Kennedy and Me' and 'Five Presidents' — about his Secret Service years with Lisa McCubbin Hill, whom he married in 2021.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Yahoo
Clint Hill, Secret Service agent who leaped onto JFK's car after he was shot, dies at 93
Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent who leaped onto the back of President John F. Kennedy's limousine after the president was shot, then was forced to retire early because he remained haunted by memories of the assassination, has died. He was 93. Hill died Friday at his home in Belvedere, California, according to his publisher, Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. A cause of death was not given. Although few may recognize his name, the footage of Hill, captured on Abraham Zapruder's chilling home movie of the assassination, provided some of the most indelible images of Kennedy's assassination in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Hill received Secret Service awards and was promoted for his actions that day, but for decades blamed himself for Kennedy's death, saying he didn't react quickly enough and would gladly have given his life to save the president. 'If I had reacted just a little bit quicker. And I could have, I guess,' a weeping Hill told Mike Wallace on CBS' 60 Minutes in 1975, shortly after he retired at age 43 at the urging of his doctors. 'And I'll live with that to my grave.' It was only in recent years that Hill said he was able to finally start putting the assassination behind him and accept what happened. On the day of the assassination, Hill was assigned to protect first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and was riding on the left running board of the follow-up car directly behind the presidential limousine as it made its way through Dealey Plaza. Hill told the Warren Commission that he reacted after hearing a shot and seeing the president slump in his seat. The president was struck by a fatal headshot before Hill was able to make it to the limousine. Zapruder's film captured Hill as he leaped from the Secret Service car, grabbed a handle on the limousine's trunk and pulled himself onto it as the driver accelerated. He forced Mrs. Kennedy, who had crawled onto the trunk, back into her seat as the limousine sped off. Hill later became the agent in charge of the White House protective detail and eventually an assistant director of the Secret Service, retiring because of what he characterized as deep depression and recurring memories of the assassination. The 1993 Clint Eastwood thriller 'In the Line of Fire,' about a former Secret Service agent scarred by the JFK assassination, was inspired in part by Hill. Hill was born in 1932 and grew up in Washburn, North Dakota. He attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, served in the Army and worked as a railroad agent before joining the Secret Service in 1958. He worked in the agency's Denver office for about a year, before joining the elite group of agents assigned to protect the president and first family. Since his retirement, Hill has spoken publicly about the assassination only a handful of times, but the most poignant was his 1975 interview with Wallace, during which Hill broke down several times. 'If I had reacted about five-tenths of a second faster, maybe a second faster, I wouldn't be here today,' Hill said. 'You mean you would have gotten there and you would have taken the shot?' Wallace asked. 'The third shot, yes, sir,' Hill said. 'And that would have been all right with you?' 'That would have been fine with me,' Hill responded. In his 2005 memoir, 'Between You and Me,' Wallace recalled his interview with Hill as one of the most moving of his career. In 2006, Wallace and Hill reunited on CNN's 'Larry King Live,' where Hill credited that first 60 Minutes interview with helping him finally start the healing process. 'I have to thank Mike for asking me to do that interview and then thank him more because he's what caused me to finally come to terms with things and bring the emotions out where they surfaced,' he said. 'It was because of his questions and the things he asked that I started to recover.' Decades after the assassination, Hill co-authored several books — including 'Mrs. Kennedy and Me' and 'Five Presidents' — about his Secret Service years with Lisa McCubbin Hill, whom he married in 2021.
Voice of America
24-02-2025
- Voice of America
Clint Hill, agent who leaped onto JFK's car after president was shot, dies at 93
Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent who leaped onto the back of President John F. Kennedy's limousine after the president was shot, then was forced to retire early because he remained haunted by memories of the assassination, has died. He was 93. Hill died Friday at his home in Belvedere, California, according to his publisher, Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. A cause of death was not given. Although few may recognize his name, the footage of Hill, captured on Abraham Zapruder's chilling home movie of the assassination, provided some of the most indelible images of Kennedy's assassination in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Hill received Secret Service awards and was promoted for his actions that day, but for decades blamed himself for Kennedy's death, saying he didn't react quickly enough and would gladly have given his life to save the president. "If I had reacted just a little bit quicker. And I could have, I guess," a weeping Hill told Mike Wallace on CBS' 60 Minutes in 1975, shortly after he retired at age 43 at the urging of his doctors. "And I'll live with that to my grave." It was only in recent years that Hill said he was able to finally start putting the assassination behind him and accept what happened. On the day of the assassination, Hill was assigned to protect first lady Jacqueline Kennedy and was riding on the left running board of the follow-up car directly behind the presidential limousine as it made its way through Dealey Plaza. Hill told the Warren Commission that he reacted after hearing a shot and seeing the president slump in his seat. The president was struck by a fatal headshot before Hill was able to make it to the limousine. Zapruder's film captured Hill as he leaped from the Secret Service car, grabbed a handle on the limousine's trunk and pulled himself onto it as the driver accelerated. He forced Mrs. Kennedy, who had crawled onto the trunk, back into her seat as the limousine sped off. Hill later became the agent in charge of the White House protective detail and eventually an assistant director of the Secret Service, retiring because of what he characterized as deep depression and recurring memories of the assassination. The 1993 Clint Eastwood thriller In the Line of Fire, about a former Secret Service agent scarred by the JFK assassination, was inspired in part by Hill. Hill was born in 1932 and grew up in Washburn, North Dakota. He attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, served in the Army and worked as a railroad agent before joining the Secret Service in 1958. He worked in the agency's Denver office for about a year, before joining the elite group of agents assigned to protect the president and first family. Since his retirement, Hill has spoken publicly about the assassination only a handful of times, but the most poignant was his 1975 interview with Wallace, during which Hill broke down several times. "If I had reacted about five-tenths of a second faster, maybe a second faster, I wouldn't be here today," Hill said. "You mean you would have gotten there, and you would have taken the shot?" Wallace asked. "The third shot, yes, sir," Hill said. "And that would have been all right with you?" "That would have been fine with me," Hill responded. In his 2005 memoir, Between You and Me, Wallace recalled his interview with Hill as one of the most moving of his career. In 2006, Wallace and Hill reunited on CNN's Larry King Live, where Hill credited that first 60 Minutes interview with helping him finally start the healing process. "I have to thank Mike for asking me to do that interview and then thank him more because he's what caused me to finally come to terms with things and bring the emotions out where they surfaced," he said. "It was because of his questions and the things he asked that I started to recover." Decades after the assassination, Hill co-authored several books — including Mrs. Kennedy and Me and Five Presidents — about his Secret Service years with Lisa McCubbin Hill, whom he married in 2021. "We had that once-in-a-lifetime love that everyone hopes for," McCubbin Hill said in a statement. "We were soulmates." Clint Hill also became a speaker and gave interviews about his experience in Dallas. In 2018, he was given the state of North Dakota's highest civilian honor, the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award. A portrait of Hill adorns the Capitol gallery of fellow honorees. A private funeral service will be held in Washington, D.C., on a future date.
Chicago Tribune
24-02-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Clint Hill, Secret Service agent who leaped onto JFK's car after the president was shot, dies at 93
BELVEDERE, Calif. — Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent who leaped onto the back of President John F. Kennedy's limousine after the president was shot, then was forced to retire early because he remained haunted by memories of the assassination, has died. He was 93. Hill died Friday at his home in Belvedere, California, according to his publisher, Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. A cause of death was not given. Although few may recognize his name, the footage of Hill, captured on Abraham Zapruder's chilling home movie of the assassination, provided some of the most indelible images of Kennedy's assassination in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Hill received Secret Service awards and was promoted for his actions that day, but for decades blamed himself for Kennedy's death, saying he didn't react quickly enough and would gladly have given his life to save the president. 'If I had reacted just a little bit quicker. And I could have, I guess,' a weeping Hill told Mike Wallace on CBS' 60 Minutes in 1975, shortly after he retired at age 43 at the urging of his doctors. 'And I'll live with that to my grave.' It was only in recent years that Hill said he was able to finally start putting the assassination behind him and accept what happened. On the day of the assassination, Hill was assigned to protect first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and was riding on the left running board of the follow-up car directly behind the presidential limousine as it made its way through Dealey Plaza. Hill told the Warren Commission that he reacted after hearing a shot and seeing the president slump in his seat. The president was struck by a fatal headshot before Hill was able to make it to the limousine. Zapruder's film captured Hill as he leaped from the Secret Service car, grabbed a handle on the limousine's trunk and pulled himself onto it as the driver accelerated. He forced Mrs. Kennedy, who had crawled onto the trunk, back into her seat as the limousine sped off. Hill later became the agent in charge of the White House protective detail and eventually an assistant director of the Secret Service, retiring because of what he characterized as deep depression and recurring memories of the assassination. The 1993 Clint Eastwood thriller 'In the Line of Fire,' about a former Secret Service agent scarred by the JFK assassination, was inspired in part by Hill. Hill was born in 1932 and grew up in Washburn, North Dakota. He attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, served in the Army and worked as a railroad agent before joining the Secret Service in 1958. He worked in the agency's Denver office for about a year, before joining the elite group of agents assigned to protect the president and first family. Since his retirement, Hill has spoken publicly about the assassination only a handful of times, but the most poignant was his 1975 interview with Wallace, during which Hill broke down several times. 'If I had reacted about five-tenths of a second faster, maybe a second faster, I wouldn't be here today,' Hill said. 'You mean you would have gotten there and you would have taken the shot?' Wallace asked. 'The third shot, yes, sir,' Hill said. 'And that would have been all right with you?' 'That would have been fine with me,' Hill responded. In his 2005 memoir, 'Between You and Me,' Wallace recalled his interview with Hill as one of the most moving of his career. In 2006, Wallace and Hill reunited on CNN's 'Larry King Live,' where Hill credited that first 60 Minutes interview with helping him finally start the healing process. 'I have to thank Mike for asking me to do that interview and then thank him more because he's what caused me to finally come to terms with things and bring the emotions out where they surfaced,' he said. 'It was because of his questions and the things he asked that I started to recover.' Decades after the assassination, Hill co-authored several books — including 'Mrs. Kennedy and Me' and 'Five Presidents' — about his Secret Service years with Lisa McCubbin Hill, whom he married in 2021. 'We had that once-in-a-lifetime love that everyone hopes for,' McCubbin Hill said in a statement. 'We were soulmates.' Clint Hill also became a speaker and gave interviews about his experience in Dallas. In 2018, he was given the state of North Dakota's highest civilian honor, the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award. A portrait of Hill adorns a Capitol gallery of fellow honorees. A private funeral service will be held in Washington, D.C., on a future date. Originally Published: February 24, 2025 at 2:09 PM CST
