On March 30, 1981 he shot Ronald Reagan in Washington – the then US President survived with serious injuries. Now, in a few days, John Hinckley is to be released from judicial and medical supervision.
According to US media reports, more than 40 years after the shooting of then US President Ronald Reagan, all court orders for the assassin are to be dropped.
67-year-old John Hinckley is scheduled to be released from judicial and medical supervision on June 15, several US media outlets reported after the final hearing in a Washington court.
“I am confident that Mr. Hinckley will do well in his remaining years,” Judge Paul Friedman quoted the Washington Post as saying. After four decades of surveillance, Hinckley has proven that he “should be ready to move on with his life.” There are no concerns about his mental condition, prosecutors, psychologists and Hinckley’s attorneys agreed at the hearing, CBS reported.
Mentally unsound at the time of the offence
Hinckley shot Reagan on March 30, 1981 in Washington as he was leaving a hotel after a speech. Reagan survived badly injured. In addition to Reagan, two security officers and his spokesman were injured. Hinckley – then 25 – said he wanted to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he was obsessed. In 1982, a grand jury acquitted him of all charges because he was mentally unsound at the time of the crime.
In 2016, Hinckley was released from a psychiatric hospital. He first moved in with his mother. This is now dead. A court had decided at the time that he no longer posed a danger to himself or others. However, Hinckley reportedly had to comply with certain requirements, including no guns, staying away from certain people, carrying a GPS-enabled cell phone and attending certain court and treatment appointments.
Last fall, the Justice Department agreed to end Hinckley’s forensic and medical surveillance. The responsible judge then declared that he wanted to free Hinckley from the remaining conditions if he followed the existing rules by summer 2022 and his mental health did not change.
