He used a pawn-shop revolver to fire six shots at Reagan, the president’s aides and his protective detail outside a Washington hotel, wounding the president and three others.
Advertisement
John Hinckley, who tried to assassinate president Ronald Reagan 35 years ago, is to be freed from a psychiatric hospital to live full-time with his mother, a federal judge ordered Wednesday.
The conditions on Hinckley’s release include a ban on contact with survivors of any of the victims, as well as with Foster.
After an eight-week trial, a federal jury in Washington found Hinckley not guilty by reason of insanity in June 1982 of all 13-counts against him, setting off a sharp public backlash.
Reagan spent almost two weeks in the hospital recovering from wounds and blood loss.
Mr Reagan died in 2004 at the age of 90 after suffering from Alzheimer’s for a decade. His press secretary, James Brady, suffered debilitating injuries and died of the after-effects in 2014.
Although the chief medical examiner ruled Brady’s death a homicide, saying it was caused by a gunshot wound he sustained in the 1981 shooting, prosecutors decided not to pursue any additional charges against Hinckley. He was allowed to leave for day visits with his parents beginning in 2003. Hinckley, 61, has been making monitored furloughs up to 17 days long to Williamsburg for years.
Hinckley said he carried out the attack in an attempt to impress Hollywood actress Jodie Foster, whom he had an obsession with.
The news that John Hinckley Jr., the man who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan and struck him with a bullet in 1981, will be released from prison to live with his mother sparked conflicting responses among the still-living members of Reagan’s inner circle. However, a small number of unsupervised visits to family outside hospital grounds, something enjoyed by Hinckley for many years, strikes us as enough freedom for him, and we oppose his full release from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump also weighed in on the judge’s decision Wednesday, telling reporters at an unrelated news conference that Hinckley should not be freed. He is barred from talking to the media.
Hinckley’s physicians have contended for several years that their patient was rehabilitated and posed no threat to society.
“Mr. Hinckley shall stay away from them, their homes and/or their place (s) of employment, and shall not communicate or attempt to communicate with them either directly or indirectly, through any other person, by telephone, written message, electronic message, social media, or any other means”.
Advertisement
Some of his mother’s neighbors in Williamsburg have always been wary of Hinckley. He can drive alone, but only within a 30-mile radius of Williamsburg, and the Secret Service will periodically follow him.
