MONTAGNE: And what is John Hinckley – or his representatives – what are they saying about all of this?
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“The fact that it wasn’t just the President being shot but other people were being shot and the whole Jodie Foster thing”.
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.
“The psychosis and major depression that made Mr. Hinckley risky in 1981 have been in full and stable remission for over two full decades”, his attorney, Barry Wm. The government asked Friedman to impose a lengthy set of restrictions on his release to ensure he did not again become violent.
In the 1990s, Hinckley was allowed supervised visits with family members at the home of his 90-year-old mother. Hinckley has been spending 17 days a month there for over two years.
“The humanitarian side of me says he ought to be released”. “How can he be allowed to roam the streets as if nothing happened?”
Reagan was seriously injured when a bullet ricocheted off the presidential limosine and hit him in the chest.
“I’m not sure he’s mentally stable”, said Yosway, who added that Hinckley should still be confined as a result of his “heinous” crime.
However, there is nothing opponents to Hinckley living in Kingsmill could legally do to keep him out, Womeldorf said.
“It’s going to be business as usual”, West said.
His days in Williamsburg have been spent meeting with therapists, volunteering at a mental hospital and helping landscape the grounds of a church. A music lover, he has gone to concerts and looked at music sites online, and he often buys CDs. They note his mother is in her 90s. He is allowed to drive unaccompanied in a 30-mile radius.
After release, he will be subject to certain conditions, and he will be required to return for monthly outpatient therapy treatment in Washington. He must live with his mother for at least the first year and carry a cellphone that tracks his movements. After that, he will have the freedom to live on his own, with roommates or in a group home in the Williamsburg area.
If Hinckley violates any of them, he can be returned to federal custody.
Levine said the voluminous court record demonstrates Hinckley is not a threat to anyone. He attempted suicide in 1983 but has been largely free of severe mental illness for more than 20 years, according to his doctors. Tom Campbell, who lives in the same gated community but not close by, said Wednesday he opposes the release, but more out of principle than fear for his grandkids – or the numerous other children who play in the neighborhood.
But Reagan’s daughter, Patti Davis, expressed some resignation, blogging that she was “not surprised by this latest development, but my heart is sickened”.
Reagan died in 2004 after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Another left then-White House press secretary James Brady paralyzed from the waist down.
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Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump also called it a “mistake” to release Hinckley, whom he misidentified as “David Hinckley”.
