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On this day in New York · June 3, 1968

Valerie Solanas Shoots Andy Warhol at the Factory

A writer with a grudge and a manifesto walked into Warhol's silver studio, waited for him to hang up the phone, and pulled the trigger three times.

Valerie Solanas Shoots Andy Warhol at the Factory
Wikimedia Commons / Andy Warhol

The facts

Date
June 3, 1968
Location
The Factory, Andy Warhol's studio, Manhattan
Also wounded
Art critic Mario Amaya, treated and released the same day
Legal outcome
Solanas pleaded guilty to reckless assault with intent to harm and was sentenced to three years, with one year already served

On June 3, 1968, the writer Valerie Solanas came to Andy Warhol's studio, the Factory, and waited outside for him to arrive. She followed Warhol and his assistant Jed Johnson inside, and while Warhol was on the phone she fired three shots at him. The first two missed. The third tore through his spleen, stomach, liver, esophagus, and lungs. She also shot the art critic Mario Amaya before walking out. Warhol was rushed to Columbus Hospital in critical condition and survived a five hour operation, and that night Solanas turned herself in to a police officer near Times Square.

In their words

The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.

  1. had too much control in my life

    Valerie Solanas, telling a police officer why she shot Warhol, the night of June 3, 1968

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. I consider that a moral act. And I consider it immoral that I missed. I should have done target practice.

    Valerie Solanas, at her arraignment

    Source: Wikipedia

Why it still matters

Warhol survived but was never quite the same, physically or artistically. He wore a surgical corset for the rest of his life, and the shooting pushed the Factory from an open downtown clubhouse toward a locked, business-minded operation.

Sources

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