Presidential Assassin Makes Bombshell Admission During First TV Interview
(RepublicanNews.org) – On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was on his way to his limousine when shots rang out. That was the day John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate the president — and nearly succeeded. More than four decades later, the failed killer says he feels remorse over his decision to target Regan that fateful day.
The Attack
Hinckley claims he was mentally unstable when he attempted to kill President Reagan. He was allegedly severely obsessed with actress Jodie Foster and believed she would fall in love with him if he managed to pull off the murder.
Shots fired from Hinckley’s gun first struck Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy, Press Secretary James Brady, and DC police officer Thomas Delahanty. One final bullet ricocheted off of the presidential limo and hit President Reagan, lodging itself just an inch away from his heart.
True Remorse
Hinckley sat down just recently with Major Garrett of CBS News for his first televised interview since his arrest all those years ago. The notorious would-be assassin asserted that he felt “true remorse” for attempting to harm Reagan. He apologized to the affected families and asked for their forgiveness but said he didn’t expect them to extend such an olive branch.
Notably, Hinckley also claimed he wished he could “take it all back,” calling the president a “nice man and good president.”
In 1981, John Hinckley Jr. shot and wounded Pres. Reagan and three others — now, he's been granted unconditional freedom.
He says he wants to show that decades of mental health treatment have made him an “ordinary guy who’s just trying to get along like everybody else.” pic.twitter.com/Nj8w4WX3I1
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) June 28, 2022
The shooter also explained that he didn’t have a “good heart” at the time he committed the now-famous crime, adding that he “things that a good person does not do.” He expressed gratitude that his plan did not succeed.
Mentally Unfit
The court ruled that Hinckley Jr. wasn’t mentally fit and thus determined that he could not stand trial. Instead, the would-be assassin spent three decades undergoing mental health treatment and monitoring at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, DC. He tried to kill himself twice, once by hanging and another by overdosing on pills.
According to the CBS report, Hinckley continues to take at least two medications daily to ensure his mental fitness. He credits decades of therapy for his ability to finally become a free man — the first person ever to be released after attempting to kill a President.
As Hinckley also pointed out, he was effectively the “most scrutinized person in the entire mental health system” for more than four decades. The former shooter insists he has become a “completely different person in mind and spirit.”
Is Hinckley Jr. sincerely sorry for what he did? The mental health system seems to have rehabilitated him. Could it do the same for others with extremely violent thoughts?
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