Ronald Reagan's Attempted Assassin John Hinckley Jr. to Get Full Unconditional Release This Month

Bureau of Prisons/Getty

John Hinckley Jr., the man who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan 41 years ago in 1981, will have complete freedom after being declared "no longer a danger to himself or others."

U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman confirmed on Wednesday the order for his release will take effect on June 15, the Associated Press reports. The judge first announced the decision last September on the condition that he would continue to display good behaviors in the community in Virginia, where he had been living with his family in recent years under several dozen restrictions.

"He's been scrutinized. He's passed every test. He's no longer a danger to himself or others," Friedman explained at the hearing despite Hinckley's absence from the court, per the AP. "I am confident that Mr. Hinckley will do well in the years remaining to him."

"It took us a long time to get here," he added. "This is the time to let John Hinckley move on with his life, so we will."

The would-be assassin was psychologically disturbed when he came "very close" to killing the president, but the judge remarked that Hinckley, 67, was now healthy without any mental health issues for four decades. Hinckley also has not exhibited any violent behavior or interest in weapons.

Corbis via Getty President Ronald Reagan

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Hinckley, who was 25 at the time, shot Reagan as well as White House Press Secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent, and a police officer in front of a Washington, D.C., hotel on March 30, 1981.

Brady died years later, in August 2014, in what the coroner's office said was a homicide because of his injuries in the shooting. Federal prosecutors declined to charge Hinckley with murder following the press secretary's death.

Hinckley had hoped to impress Jodie Foster, the subject of an obsessive infatuation.

In 1982, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity and subsequently spent decades in treatment at Saint Elizabeths Hospital in Washington D.C. He remained in psychiatric care there until 2016, when the judge overseeing his case approved his release with restrictions, including mandatory therapy and treatment by doctors administering and monitoring his psychiatric medications.

Kris Connor/Getty James Brady

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He was also not permitted to contact Reagan's children, his other victims, their families, or Foster, among other restrictions.

After his restricted release in 2016, Hinckley lived with his mother in Virginia until she died in July 2019.

Federal prosecutors had previously opposed Hinckley's release up until last year, the AP reports.

On Wednesday, Prosecutor Kacie Weston said in court that the government believes the case "has demonstrated the success that can come from a wraparound mental health system."

Weston shared Hinckley has expressed a desire to continue receiving mental health services even after being dismissed from the requirement to do so. She also said the government wishes "him success for both his sake as well as the safety of the community."

Barry Thumma/AP/Shutterstock

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"If he hadn't tried to kill the president, he would have been unconditionally released a long, long, long time ago," Judge Friedman said after first granting him the release in September, according to the AP. "But everybody is comfortable now after all of the studies, all of the analysis and all of the interviews and all of the experience with Mr. Hinckley."

However, some of Reagan's family had been critical of Hinckley's release.

In a July 2016 post on her website, Reagan's daughter Patti Davis wrote that "when my father was lying in a hospital bed recovering from the gunshots that nearly killed him, he said, 'I know my ability to heal depends on my willingness to forgive John Hinckley.' "

"I, too, believe in forgiveness," Davis continued then. "But forgiving someone in your heart doesn't mean that you let them loose in Virginia to pursue whatever dark agendas they may still hold dear."

If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.