WASHINGTON: John Hinckley Jr., who wounded US President Ronald Reagan and three other people in a 1981 assassination attempt prompted by his mental illness, should be freed after 35 years and released to live with his mother, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.
US District Judge Paul Friedman said Hinckley, 61, no longer posed a danger to himself or others and could be released from St. Elizabeth’s, a government psychiatric hospital in Washington.
Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982 for the attack on Reagan, which also badly wounded presidential press secretary James Brady, outside a Washington hotel. Hinckley carried out the attack in a bid to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he was obsessed.
In his order, Friedman said Hinckley “is permitted to reside full-time in Williamsburg, Virginia, on convalescent leave, which shall begin no sooner than Aug. 5, 2016.”
Hinckley’s mother lives in Williamsburg, about 130 miles (210 km) south of Washington. Since 2006, Hinckley has completed more than 80 unsupervised visits to Williamsburg, the judge said.
Friedman’s order imposes dozens of conditions, including a requirement that Hinckley meet with his psychiatrist in Washington at least once a month and notify the Secret Service when he travels for the appointment.
Hinckley’s attack eventually became an important moment in the US debate over gun control with Brady, who was left permanently disabled by his wound, and wife Sarah, becoming the country’s leading gun control advocates.
His organization helped the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act become law in 1993, imposing federal background checks on gun purchases and a five-day waiting period.
Hinckley already has been staying at his mother’s home in a gated community on a golf course during monthly furlough visits. He was granted a Virginia driver’s license in 2014, the magazine Washingtonian reported in May.
Hinckley has worked as a volunteer at the library of a psychiatric facility in Williamsburg after failing to secure employment at places such as Starbucks and Subway, the magazine wrote.
Reagan’s would-be assassin to be released after 35 years
Reagan’s would-be assassin to be released after 35 years
Merz says Germany exploring shared nuclear umbrella with European allies
- Germany is currently banned from developing a nuclear weapon
- Britain and France are the only European powers which have a nuclear arsenal
BERLIN: European nations are starting to discuss ideas around a shared nuclear umbrella to complement existing security arrangements with the US, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, amid growing talk in Germany of developing its own nuclear defenses.
Merz, speaking at a time of increased transatlantic tensions as US President Donald Trump upends traditional alliances, said the talks were only at an initial stage and no decision was imminent.
“We know that we have to reach a number of strategic and military policy decisions, but at the moment, the time is not ripe,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Germany is currently banned from developing a nuclear weapon of its own under the so-called Four Plus Two agreement that opened the way for the country’s reunification in 1990 as well as under a landmark nuclear non-proliferation treaty that Germany signed in 1969.
Merz said Germany’s treaty obligations did not prevent it from discussing joint solutions with partners, including Britain and France, the only European powers which have a nuclear arsenal.
“These talks are taking place. They are also not in conflict with nuclear-sharing with the United States of America,” he said.
European nations have long relied heavily on the United States, including its large nuclear arsenal, for their defense but have been increasing military spending, partly in response to sharp criticism from the Trump administration.
Trump has rattled Washington’s European allies with his talk of acquiring Greenland from Denmark, a NATO ally, and his threat, later rescinded, to impose tariffs on countries that stood in his way.
He has also suggested in the past that the US would not help protect countries that failed to spend enough on their own defense.
Merz’s comments were echoed by the head of the parliamentary defense committee, Thomas Roewekamp, who said Germany had the technical capacity which could be used in developing a European nuclear weapon.
“We do not have missiles or warheads, but we do have a significant technological advantage that we could contribute to a joint European initiative,” Roewekamp, from Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union party, told Germany’s Welt TV.
