Reagan was hit and almost died from the gunshot wound. His press secretary James Brady was shot in the head, suffered brain damage and being paralysed for life. Washington police officer Thomas Delahanty was shot in the back of his neck while doing crowd control.
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Hinckley fired six shots at President Reagan as the latter entered a limousine outside the Washington Hilton Hotel on March 30, 1981. Reagan was hit in the chest and was hospitalized for 12 days.
“Mr Hinckley recognizes that what he did was horrific”.
As Hinckley Jr. will no longer be confined to a psychiatric facility, there are concerns that he could commit a crime again.
Doctors responsible for Hinckley’s treatment last year asked that the 61-year-old be allowed to leave St. Elizabeth’s Hospital for good, according to CBS News. In 2003, Hinckley was first allowed to visit his parents’ home for the day.
John Hinckley Jr.is shown in a Sept.16, 1982 file photo. A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that Hinckley will soon be freed from a government psychiatric hospital. Hinckley is allowed to drive himself to these appointments, but his travel time and route will have to be provided to the Secret Service.
The Hinckley verdict also led several states to rewrite their laws making it more hard to use the insanity defense while the U.S. Secret Service tightened its protocols for presidential security.
Here is some background on Hinckley’s life before and after the assassination attempt.
Spriggs spent almost three decades with the Secret Service. Hinckley has also volunteered at a mental-health hospital and at a Unitarian Universalist Church, which recently offered him a paid position.
He has been attending meeting of the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and has been volunteering with yard work at the local Unitarian Universalist Church. He also plays guitar, paints and cares for feral cats. In court documents reviewed by the Associated Press, he has said he would like to “fit in” and be a “good citizen”, and indicated interest in getting a full-time job.
Hinckley must return to Washington once a month for doctors to check on his mental state and his compliance with the conditions of his leave, the judge ruled.
In a prepared statement, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute said, “Contrary to the judge’s decision, we believe John Hinckley is still a threat to others and we strongly oppose his release”. McCarthy is now police chief of Orland Park.
To be clear, however, he will be strictly monitored and will be living with his mother.
Do U think John deserves to live freely after what he did??
Hinckley Jr. had written a letter to Foster, declaring his undying love for the movie star and promising that his attempt to kill the president was done for her benefit so she would understand how much she meant to him.
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As I’ve often said to people, murder is the only activity in America for which there is a reward for failure. He now lives at his mother’s home 17 days a month. His attorney, Barry W Levine, told the Washington Post that Hinckley is “profoundly sorry” about the shooting. William Miller, a spokesman for the USA attorney’s office in Washington, said the office is reviewing the ruling and has no comment. “If approached by media, Mr. Hinckley and the members of his family will decline to speak with them, and if the media persists, Mr. Hinckley and the members of his family will withdraw”, the order said. The Secret Service has apparently tracked Hinckley during visits. He didn’t pick up any of the books. He was granted a Virginia driver’s license in 2014, the magazine Washingtonian reported in May.
