John Hinckley, Jr., the man who made an unsuccessful attempt on the life of President Ronald Reagan, is set to go free, according to Fox News and other sources.
[A] judge decided Wednesday to allow would-be assassin … Hinckley … to live with his mother in Virginia full-time.
Hinckley is set to begin his “convalescent leave” on Aug. 5, according to U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman’s order.
Friedman wrote that “all of the experts and treatment providers” who testified during the hearing agreed that Hinckley’s issues — major depression and psychotic disorder — were “in full and sustained remission and have been for more than twenty years.”
Hinckley, who is now 61, attempted to kill Reagan outside the Washington Hilton on March 30, 1981. He fired six shots, wounding four people, including Reagan. Press Secretary James Brady was shot in the right side of his head, leaving him a paraplegic for the rest of his life. When Brady died in August 2014, his death was ruled a homicide.
Brady became a staunch gun control activist, chairing the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, along with wife Sarah, who died last year. In 1993, Congress passed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, also known as “the Brady Bill.” As a curious aside, Bernie Sanders voted against the bill, which mandates checks and waiting periods on gun purchases.
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As for Hinckley, once freed he will be required to attend individual and group therapy sessions. He is also barred from speaking with the media.
