John Hinckley, Attempted Ronald Reagan Assassin, Is Free And Posting On Twitter

By Aidan Walker
5126 views
• Published 2 years ago

Published 2 years ago

Way back on March 30th, 1981, John Hinckley fired six shots at Ronald Reagan and his entourage, almost killing the President and three others. Flash forward to yesterday, and Hinckley posted the following tweet after being released from the psychiatric institution where he was held for the past four decades.


Hinckley is apparently attempting to start a career as a singer-songwriter, composing original material and releasing several YouTube videos and tracks on Spotify. Hinckley’s path to a career in the music business, however, seems rocky. A sold-out date that he booked at a venue in Brooklyn was purportedly canceled after management expressed fears about violence at the event and doubts about the quality of his music.


In 1981, Hinckley shot the President in order to get the attention of actress Jodie Foster, with whom he was obsessed. The shooting led to the 1993 passage of the Brady Bill, a law named for White House Press Secretary James Brady, who was disabled after Hinckley shot him in the head during the incident.

The Brady Bill was the last major piece of gun control legislation passed in the United States, and until it was weakened in 1998, it instituted waiting periods and background checks for the purchase of handguns.

In 1982 a jury found Hinckley not guilty by reason of insanity, and so he spent the next four decades at a psychiatric institution in Washington, D.C. Many online have praised his rehabilitation, citing it as an example of how ex-criminals and the mentally ill can find redemption and start new lives.


A number of people, however, expressed anger at his freedom, contending he had not been punished enough for his crimes.


Some were too young to understand what Hinckley had done and were helpfully illuminated by others in the replies to Hinckley’s tweet as the story trended online throughout the day.


A number of John Hinckley reply guys even tried to show the 67-year-old would-be assassin some memes (such as Gigachad) and other pieces of culture he may have missed during his incarceration.


A number of anti-Reagan posters also joked about how they wished Hinckley’s assassination attempt had been a success, as the former President is often a contentious figure online these days.


In turn, a number of others criticized the “internet guys” who made the anti-Reagan jokes.


Most of Hinckley’s posts express thanks and gratitude to those around him and his new fans. He has been on a conditional release with specific stipulations limiting his use of the internet since 2017, but as of this month, he's unconditionally released and a free man.


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