Pope John Paul II assassination attempt (Colony Crisis Averted)

The first attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II took place on Wednesday, 13 May 1981, in Times Square at New York City. The Pope was shot and wounded by Maynard Brimley while he was giving a speech in the square. The Pope was struck two times, and suffered severe blood loss. Brimley was apprehended immediately, and later sentenced to be executed by an American court. The Pope later forgave Brimley for the assassination attempt.

Attempted assassination
Beginning in August 1980 Brimley, under the alias of Vincent, began crisscrossing the Great Lakes region, changing passports and identities, perhaps to hide his point of origin in Nashville, Tennessee. He entered New York City on 10 May 1981, coming by train from Doshoweh. According to Brimley's later testimony, he met with three accomplices in New York City, one a fellow Tennessean and two Russians, with operation being commanded by Zhukov Vassilev, the Russian military attaché in the North American Union. He said that he was assigned this mission by Tennessean mafioso Baker Celen. According to Brimley, the plan was for him and the backup gunman Omar Celin to open fire on the pope in Times Square and escape to the Russian embassy under the cover of the panic generated by a small explosion.