Man who shot Reagan to be freed
AAP on July 28, 2016, 7:33 am
John Hinckley Jr., who attempted to assassinate US President Ronald Reagan in 1981, will be freed.
John Hinckley Junior, who wounded US President Ronald Reagan in a 1981 assassination attempt prompted by a deranged obsession with actress Jodie Foster, can be freed from a psychiatric hospital to live with his mother, a federal judge has ruled.
US District Judge Paul Friedman on Wednesday said Hinckley, 61, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a 1982 trial, no longer posed a danger to himself or others.
He ruled Hinckley could be released a government psychiatric hospital in Washington as soon as August 5, subject to conditions intended to ensure he is adequately monitored.
"Since 1983, when he last attempted suicide, he has displayed no symptoms of active mental illness, exhibited no violent behaviour, shown no interest in weapons, and demonstrated no suicidal ideation," Friedman said of Hinckley in a 103-page opinion.
In addition to Reagan, Hinckley's attack wounded presidential press secretary James Brady, a policeman and a Secret Service agent.
The shooting helped launch the modern gun control movement, as Brady and his wife, Sarah, founded what is now known as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence after he was left permanently disabled.
The Bradys' support helped the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act become law in 1993, imposing federal background checks on gun purchases and a five-day waiting period.
After Hinckley's attack the US Secret Service significantly tightened its protocols for presidential security.
Wednesday's decision drew criticism from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, which said the family strongly opposed Hinckley's release and believed he still poses a threat to others.
In a statement, the Brady Campaign noted that gun control laws remain toothless more than three decades after the shooting.
"Virtually all Americans should be outraged that it will be just as easy for Jim's would-be killer to buy a gun today as it was 35 years ago," the group said.
"This decision will only redouble our resolve at the Brady Campaign to expand background checks to every gun sale and end the horror of gun violence that takes 90 lives every single day."
Friedman said Hinckley will be required to spend at least a year living with his mother, Jo Ann, 90, in Williamsburg, Virginia, about 210km south of Washington, where he has been making increasingly long furlough visits for years.
Friedman's order imposes nearly three dozen conditions, including monthly meetings with his psychiatrist in Washington.
Hinckley is restricted to an 80km radius of Williamsburg and must make information about his mobile phone, vehicle and internet browsing history available to his treatment team and law enforcement. He cannot own firearms and is not allowed to use alcohol or drugs.
Hinckley was a 25-year-old college dropout when he fired at Reagan. He had become obsessed with Foster and the Martin Scorsese film Taxi Driver in which she played a teenage prostitute.
Hinckley began to identify with the film's main character, Travis Bickle, who planned to assassinate a presidential candidate, and spent several years trying to make contact with Foster, who was a student at Yale University in Connecticut.
On March 30, 1981, Hinckley wrote Foster a letter detailing his plans to kill Reagan in an effort to win her over. Later that day, Hinckley approached Reagan outside the Washington Hilton Hotel and opened fire.
Reagan suffered a punctured lung but recovered relatively quickly. Brady's death in 2014 was attributed to his wounds but federal prosecutors said the following year they would not charge Hinckley with his murder.
