The order says he can not drive unaccompanied for more than 30 miles from Williamsburg, except for his monthly trips to Washington to check in at the hospital. He described it as “awkward” and uncomfortable to be tailed by Secret Service agents when he inquired about working at Starbucks and Subway, court records show.
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The shooting endangered Reagan’s life, but he recovered after undergoing emergency surgery.
MONTAGNE: And that was CBS anchor Dan Rather 35 years ago. “It was an act caused by mental illness”, Levine said in a statement.
The judge ruled that as soon as August 5, Hinckley can leave permanently to live full-time with his mom in Williamsburg, Virginia. For the most part, Hinckley has been on his best behavior while on furloughs.
The court order further says Hinckley must participate in “structured activities” in Williamsburg, such as volunteer positions or paid employment approved by his doctors.
John Hinckley Jr, the man who tried to assassinate US President Ronald Reagan, is to be released from a psychiatric hospital next month, after 35 years. Hinckley’s father died in 2008.
But Reagan’s daughter, Patti Davis, expressed some resignation, blogging that she was “not surprised by this latest development, but my heart is sickened”.
A federal judge granted John Hinckley Jr. permission to live with his elderly mother in Williamsburg, Virginia, Wednesday. Two other men were hit by the six bullets Hinckley fired that day – one struck a police officer, the other a secret service agent.
Danny Spriggs, who now works for The Associated Press, called the shooting the most “horrific incident” of his career.
Many restrictions attached to Hinckley’s temporary release will remain in place.
Hinckley shot Reagan and three others in 1981. Thanks to the insanity-defense laws at the time of the assassination attempt – which, as Reid reminds us, were changed because of Hinckley’s success in using them – his release was all but inevitable.
Hinckley, Davis wrote, “will have to check in sometimes with his doctors, and he will have to live with his 90 year old mother, which shouldn’t cramp his style too much given her age and infirmities”.
Spriggs spent almost three decades with the Secret Service.
If Hinckley relapses or violates the terms of his release, he could be returned to St. Elizabeth’s, the judge ordered.
“Contrary to the judge’s decision, we believe John Hinckley is still a threat to others, and we strongly oppose is release, ” said the Reagan Foundation.
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 will also be required to work or volunteer three times a week and participate in individual music therapy sessions at least once a month in Williamsburg. A judge has ruled he’s no longer a danger to society.
The assassination attempt was fueled by Hinckley’s obsession with the movie “Taxi Driver” and its then-teenage star, Jodie Foster.
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Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982 for the attack on Mr Reagan – which also badly wounded the president’s press secretary James Brady – outside a Washington hotel. That time has increased over the years so that for more than the last year he has been allowed to spend 17 days a month at the home, which is in a gated community and overlooks a golf course. He will now live there full-time.
