More than 40 years after his shooting at the then US President Ronald Reagan, all legal requirements for the assassin John Hinckley could soon be removed.
The Justice Department agreed last week to end the judicial and medical surveillance of Hinckley, reported the Washington Post on Monday. The responsible judge then stated that he wanted to exempt Hinckley from remaining conditions if he followed the existing rules by summer 2022 and nothing changed in his mental health.
Reagan, his spokesman and two security officers were injured, some seriously, in the attack on March 30, 1981.
Hinckley then said he was trying to impress actress Jodie Foster, whom he was obsessed with. In 1982 a jury acquitted him of all charges because he was not mentally responsible at the time of the crime.
Hinckley, now 66, was released from a mental hospital in 2016 and initially moved in with his mother. This has meanwhile died.
At the time, a court ruled that he no longer posed a threat to himself or to others. According to the reports, Hinckley must adhere to certain conditions – he is not allowed to own weapons, must stay away from certain people, have a GPS-enabled cell phone with him and attend certain court and treatment appointments. These requirements could ultimately be completely eliminated in the coming year.