NEW YORK — The woman who fired a gun at President Gerald Ford in 1975 and spent the next 32 years in prison said this morning she believed the country would change only through a violent revolution.

Sara Jane Moore told NBC's "Today" she now realizes her actions were "wrong ... a serious error."

The appearance was Moore's first TV interview since she was released on parole in late 2007, NBC said.

In September 1975, Moore, then about 45, fired on Ford in San Francisco. A man near her knocked the pistol out of her hand and the shot went astray.

Moore was sentenced to life in prison but released on parole in December 2007. She has lived in an undisclosed location since then.

During the long years in prison, she said, that "gradually I began to realize that I had let myself be used. ... I definitely think that it was wrong. I think I was misled. I think I was mistaken."

Moore said she "wasn't prepared" for the things she learned about the extent of poverty and other problems.

"It was a time that people don't remember. You know, we had a war ... the Vietnam War, you became — I became — immersed in it," Moore said.

"We were saying the country needed to change. The only way it was going to change was a violent revolution. I genuinely thought that (shooting Ford) might trigger that new revolution in this country."

Asked by NBC's Matt Lauer why she was doing the interview now, she said, "I think that one gets tired of being thought of as a kook ... There has been a lot of curiosity. I thought, OK, let's do it."