John Hinckley Jr. – the man who attempted to assassinate the 40th US President Ronald Reagan in 1981 – has been freed from court oversight, after decades of supervision by legal and mental health professionals.
Hinckley, 67, won release from the final restrictions stemming from his sentencing in September last year, with the decision set to enter into force on June 15, 2022.
“After 41 years 2 months and 15 days, FREEDOM AT LAST!!!” Hinckley wrote on Twitter.
Hinckley attempted to kill Reagan in 1981 outside a hotel in Washington, DC. He wounded the president, as well as a Secret Service agent and a police officer. Then-press secretary James Brady was permanently disabled after he was injured in the shooting, and died in 2014 from complications.
Following a ‘not-guilty’ verdict based on insanity, Hinckley spent decades in a psychiatric hospital until he was granted a supervised release in 2016.
According to last year’s ruling, Hinckley was “mentally stable” and had complied with the terms of conditional release.
The last set of restrictions, which has now been removed, included having no contact with the Reagan family or other families of the victims of his shooting, as well as actress Jodie Foster.