Editing Larry Flynt (section)

==Attempted assassination==
[[File:Larry Flynt Wheelchair.jpg|Larry Flynt in his gold-plated wheelchair in 2009|thumb|upright]]
On March 6, 1978, during a legal battle related to [[obscenity]] in [[Gwinnett County, Georgia]], Flynt and his lawyer were shot on the sidewalk in [[Lawrenceville, Georgia|Lawrenceville]] by [[Joseph Paul Franklin]]. The shooting left Flynt [[Paraplegia|partially paralyzed]] with permanent [[Spinal cord injury|spinal cord damage]], and in need of a wheelchair.<ref>{{cite news |title=Larry Flynt, ''Hustler'' magazine editor and First Amendment champion, has died at&nbsp;78 |website=CBS News |type=obiturary |language=en-US |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/larry-flynt-dies-age-78-hustler-heart-failure/ |access-date=February 11, 2021}}</ref> Flynt's attorney was seriously wounded.<ref>{{cite web |title=Georgia lawyer who was shot and wounded with Hustler publisher Larry Flynt dies at age&nbsp;85 |date=August 7, 2015 |website=Fox News |type=obituary |language=en-US |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/georgia-lawyer-who-was-shot-and-wounded-with-hustler-publisher-larry-flynt-dies-at-age-85 |access-date=March 14, 2021}}</ref>

=== Joseph Paul Franklin ===
Franklin, a militant [[White supremacy|white supremacist]] and [[serial killer]], also shot [[Vernon Jordan]]; he targeted other black and Jewish people in a killing spree from 1977 to 1980. Violently opposed to '[[miscegenation]],' he confessed to the shootings many years later, claiming he was outraged by an [[Interracial pornography|interracial]] photo shoot in ''Hustler''.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |last=Valentine |first=Paul W. |date=February 11, 2021 |title=Larry Flynt, pornographer and self-styled First Amendment champion, dies at&nbsp;78 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/larry-flynt-porn-king-and-self-styled-first-amendment-champion-dies-at-xxx/2021/02/10/5240626c-6bf0-11eb-ba56-d7e2c8defa31_story.html }}</ref> About Flynt and a ''Hustler'' pictorial, he stated, "I saw that interracial couple ... having sex ... It just made me sick ... I threw the magazine down and thought, I'm gonna kill that guy."<ref name=":2">{{cite news |title=White supremacist murderer who shot Larry Flynt is executed |date=November 20, 2013 |website=[[NPR]] |language=en |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/11/20/246297720/white-supremacist-murderer-who-shot-larry-flynt-is-executed |access-date=February 18, 2021}}</ref> Flynt himself suspected the attack was part of a larger conspiracy involving ultra-right elements surrounding [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] [[Larry McDonald]] also behind the [[Karen Silkwood]] case with ties to the Intelligence Community and that Franklin may have been subject to [[MKULTRA]]-style [[Brainwashing|mind control]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brussell |first1=Mae |title=World Watchers International |url=http://www.worldwatchers.info/shows/world-watchers-international-83-11-28/ |publisher=KAZU Radio, Pacific Grove |date=November 28, 1983}}</ref>

Franklin was never brought to trial for the attack on Flynt. Franklin was eventually charged in [[Missouri]] with eight unrelated counts of murder and sentenced to death. Flynt expressed his opposition to the [[Capital punishment debate in the United States|death penalty]] and stated he did not want Franklin to be executed.<ref>{{cite news |title=Larry Flynt: Don't execute man who shot me |date=October 18, 2013 |website=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24579849 |access-date=October 18, 2013}}</ref> Franklin was executed by [[lethal injection]] on November 20, 2013.