The man who tried to assassinate former USA president Ronald Reagan is set to be freed from a psychiatric hospital and allowed to live in the community.
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This day has always been anticipated. As of now, he spends 17 days a month with his elderly mother in Williamsburg, Va. He’s going to movies, playing guitar, volunteering at church. Since 2006, Hinckley has completed more than 80 unsupervised visits to Williamsburg, the judge said.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, meanwhile, voiced its opposition to the Hinkley’s release. The widely criticized verdict led many states to tighten the laws on insanity defenses.
But he said he also enjoyed meeting people outside St. Elizabeths, noting of his group therapy sessions: “It’s really refreshing to be in a group with people who aren’t completely out of their minds”. He treats his elderly mother to dinner at Ruby Tuesday and takes her on scenic drives. Brady died 33 years later of complications from the assassination attempt, but federal prosecutors decided not to press charges. They say he no longer poses a threat to himself or others.
Hinckley, 61, will be sent to live with his mother in Williamsburg, Virginia, and must carry a Global Positioning System enabled phone whenever he is away from his mother’s home, but no tracking devices will be installed in his cars. An hour before he pulled his gun on the president outside the Washington Hilton Hotel, Hinckley penned a letter to Foster, writing that he would abandon “this idea of getting Reagan in a second if I could only win your heart and live out the rest of my life with you, whether it be in total obscurity or whatever”. The judge ruled Wednesday that Hinckley is no longer a danger. “But virtually all Americans should be outraged that it will be just as easy for Jim’s would-be killer to buy a gun today than it was 35 years ago”.
Many restrictions attached to Hinckley’s temporary release will remain in place. He said officers haven’t kept extra tabs on Hinckley during his visits, and that won’t change.
In each case, the hospital said, administrators expressed concern about safety or about the negative public perception that Hinckley might bring. He said Hinckley “regrets this event more than anything”. Doctors now believe he has been cured of his mental illness.
“I too believe in forgiveness”.
Bill Miller, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips of Washington, said the office was reviewing the judge’s opinion and had no comment.
The decision of Hinckley’s release, however, has gained some critical support.
Hinckley was 25 years old at the time of the assassination attempt.
“It made me feel awkward and uncomfortable”, he said. “The risk is higher than the reward”.
“If you look at it logically as a risk-reward ratio, the reward is only to him”. He said most people would not be excited to have a failed assassin living next door.
“But I’m not trying to say let’s have a witch hunt and burn the guy”, McGurk added. “He’s done his time and he has to live somewhere”.
Despite the restrictions, life in Williamsburg will likely be busy for Hinckley.
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MONTAGNE: And the Justice Department has been fighting his release.
