Would-be presidential assassin John Hinckley Jr., has been granted unconditional release in June 2022 by a federal judge.
Hinckley wounded President Ronald Reagan and three others outside Washington D.C. hotel in a failed assassination attempt in 1981.
A federal judge ruled on Monday September 27 that the man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan four decades ago, can be freed from all remaining restrictions next year if he continues to follow rules and remains mentally stable.
Hinckley was found not guilty by insanity for the 1981 shooting that left Reagan with a chest injury. His press secretary, James Brady?, was paralyzed, while a Secret Service agent, and cop were also shot. He was committed to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in D.C. after the verdict, where he lived until 2016 when a federal judge signed off on his release, with restrictions.
Hinckley is now 66 years old and has been living outside a mental health facility for the past few years, a result of a gradual lightening of supervision. His lawyer said the “momentous event” of Hinckley’s full release in June is both appropriate and required by the law.
Prosecutor Kacie Weston said the Justice Department agreed to a settlement but wanted to monitor Hinckley for the next nine months because of two big changes in his life: He’s living on his own for the first time in about 40 years, and because one of his primary doctors is preparing for retirement and disbanding Hinckley’s therapy group.
It is expected that the Justice Department will file a motion with the court before June if it had fresh concerns about Hinckley.
Hinckley also on Monday apologized to the people he shot, the American people, and actress Jodie Foster, whose attention he tried to win with the act.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation And Institute, however, said in a statement that it thinks Hinckley is still a threat and it strongly opposes his release. The institute said in a statement;
“Our hope is that the Justice Department will file a motion with the court leading to a reversal of this decision.”
This is however coming after a California Parole Board recommended that President Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin be granted parole
