08-07-2016, 12:06 PM
35 years later...........John Hinckley is a free man
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said Hinckley, 61, no longer posed a danger to himself or others and could be released from St. Elizabeth’s, a government psychiatric hospital in Washington.
![[Image: 10367351.jpg]](https://static2.stuff.co.nz/1407552226/351/10367351.jpg)
^ The moments just after John Hinckley tried to assassinate former U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981 outside the Washington Hilton hotel. A Secret Service agent (L) draws his Uzi sub-machine gun as others subdue Hinckley behind.
Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982 for the shooting attack on Reagan, which also badly wounded presidential press secretary James Brady. Hinckley’s attack eventually became an important moment in the U.S. debate over gun control with Brady, who was left permanently disabled by his wound, and wife Sarah, becoming the country’s leading gun control advocates.
His organization helped the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act become law in 1993, imposing federal background checks on gun purchases and a five-day waiting period.
Hinckley carried out the attack in a bid to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he was obsessed. As of this week, he's living with his mother in Virginia and working as a volunteer at the library of psychiatric office after failing to secure work at Starbucks and Subway.
Story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/judg..._ref=crime
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said Hinckley, 61, no longer posed a danger to himself or others and could be released from St. Elizabeth’s, a government psychiatric hospital in Washington.
^ The moments just after John Hinckley tried to assassinate former U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981 outside the Washington Hilton hotel. A Secret Service agent (L) draws his Uzi sub-machine gun as others subdue Hinckley behind.
Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982 for the shooting attack on Reagan, which also badly wounded presidential press secretary James Brady. Hinckley’s attack eventually became an important moment in the U.S. debate over gun control with Brady, who was left permanently disabled by his wound, and wife Sarah, becoming the country’s leading gun control advocates.
His organization helped the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act become law in 1993, imposing federal background checks on gun purchases and a five-day waiting period.
Hinckley carried out the attack in a bid to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he was obsessed. As of this week, he's living with his mother in Virginia and working as a volunteer at the library of psychiatric office after failing to secure work at Starbucks and Subway.
Story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/judg..._ref=crime