WASHINGTON — John Hinckley Jr., who shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981, will be released to full freedom after 41 years on June 15.
The Associated Press says a federal judge has granted John Hinckley Jr., 67, full freedom from all remaining restrictions Wednesday afternoon.
Last September, U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman, said Hinckley would be free from restrictions on June 15 as long as he continues to do well which officials say he has.
Hinckley was in a mental hospital in Washington for over two decades following the attempted shooting of President Reagan. A jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity, according to the AP. In a report that was filed before the hearing on Wednesday, health officials who have been overseeing Hinckley for years, believe that he has recovered and that “he does not present a danger to himself or others because of mental illness if unconditionally released,” according to the AP. The opposing side changed their views last year and agreed to the conditions if he continued to maintain his mental stability.
Judge Friedman has been allowing Hinckley to live in the community for longer periods of time, starting back in 2003 with therapy and travel restrictions. He has since been living in Virginia full time since 2016 but with restrictions, according to the AP. Those restrictions allow officials to access electronic devices, email and online accounts, not traveling where Secret Service may be, and providing a three-day notice for traveling 75 miles from his home.
Hinckley lived with his mother until she died in 2021, the AP says. He has since moved out of her home and has been selling items at an antique mall and selling books online. On his YouTube channel, he said he had started a record label and will be release his own music.
Hinckley was 25 when he shot and wounded the 40th U.S. president outside a Washington hotel. The shooting paralyzed Reagan press secretary James Brady, who died in 2014. It also injured Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and Washington police officer Thomas Delahanty.
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