President Ronald Reagan’s attempted assassin will be a free man. A federal judge signed off on the release of John W. Hinckley, Jr. from a government psychiatric hospital more than 35 years after he attempted to assassinate President Reagan.
On March 30, 1981, Hinkley shot Reagan as well as three others outside the Washington Hilton in the failed assassination attempt. Hinkley did manage to hit Reagan in the chest with a bullet, but the 40th President of the United States recovered. Reagan’s press secretary, James Brady, was shot in the head and paralyzed. He went on to be an advocate for gun control until he died in 2014. A Secret Service agent and a cop were also struck by bullets.
On Wednesday morning, Judge Paul Friedman said it was a difficult decision, but “The court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that Mr. Hinckley presents no danger to himself or to others in the reasonable future if released.”
Hinckley, now 61-years-old, will be released from the St. Elizabeth’s hospital on August 5, but will have to live with his mother in Williamsburg, Virgina.
The Washington Post provides the restrictions on Hinckley’s release:
The order limits Hinckley to a 50-mile radius of Williamsburg, Va., requires him to turn over information about his mobile phone and vehicles he will be driving, and bars him from accessing social media, uploading any content or erasing any browser history from his computer.
If Hinckley violates the restrictions he could be returned to St. Elizabeth’s. However, if he adheres to all limitations, they may be removed after 12 to 18 months.
Hinckley shot Reagan in a warped attempt to impress actress Jodie Foster. The would-be assassin’s motivation was Robert De Niro’s character Travis Bickle from the 1976 movie Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese. Bickle saves a prostitute, played by Foster, and attempts to assassinate a senator to woo a girl.