Hinckley Jr., will be released from a government psychiatric hospital, more than 35 years after he attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan and shot three others outside the Washington Hilton, a federal judge ruled yesterday. He is not allowed to be in the same area as current presidents, vice presidents, members of Congress, or other senior members of an administration, and he is not allowed to have Facebook, Twitter, or other social media accounts without the unanimous consent of his treatment team.
Advertisement
He wrote, “All of the experts and treatment providers” believed Hinckley’s depression and psychotic disorder – what drove him to the shooting – “are in full and sustained remission and have been for more than twenty years”.
Hinckley shot President Ronald Reagan and three others, including presidential press secretary James Brady, in 1981.
A jury found Hinckley not guilty by reason of insanity and he was committed to St. Elizabeths Hospital.
Reagan spent almost two weeks in the hospital recovering from wounds and blood loss. FILE – In this March 18, 2015 file photo, the home of John Hinckley’s mother in the Kingsmill resort in Williamsburg, Va.
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.
McCarthy, who was not wearing a bullet proof vest that day, was shot in the chest.
Calling the release a “dangerous signal to would-be assassins”, Meese said in a statement to the Independent Journal Review that the move is an “invitation to our enemies” to “take aim at our national leaders”.
Hinckley already spends 17 days each month with his mother in the Kingsmill resort community in Williamsburg, something that bothers his neighbor Joe Mann.
If Hinckley relapses or violates the terms of his release, he could be returned to St. Elizabeth’s, the judge ordered.
The release should begin no sooner than August 5, the judge said.
After a year of convalescent leave, the hospital will conduct a comprehensive risk assessment to determine if he’s fit to live in a separate residence or a group home within 30 miles of Williamsburg.
“The question with Mr. Hinckley is because he has this basic character flaw or personality flaw as it is called, of narcissism, can he really be changed?”
His children, Mr Ron Reagan Jr and Ms Patti Reagan Davis, have opposed Hinckley’s release, saying they do not trust him because of his past deceptions. Secret Service agents have tracked him during each such foray.
CBS News’ Paula Reid reports that St. Elizabeth’s Hospital has a constitutional obligation to transition patients to outpatient care when they are ready.
But he said it was not an “act of evil”, instead he said it was “an act caused by mental illness”.
Advertisement
Federal prosecutors, who have long battled Hinckley’s doctors and lawyers over his expanding privileges, said they were reviewing Friedman’s order and declined to comment.
