On March 30, 1981 at approximately 2:25 pm a mentally deranged man named John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. John Hinckley Jr. was born May 29, 1955. He was 25 years old when he attempted the assassination of President Ronald Reagan. Hinckley had developed an obsession for an actress Jodie Foster. When he viewed the movie Taxi Driver a 1976 movie by Martin Scorsese’s, which was about a woman who tries to convince a taxi driver to assassinate the president in order to win her over. Hinckley had viewed this movie dozens of times and obsessively watched and listen to the movies soundtrack. He read the book the Fan which was what the movie was based on. Hinckley had repeatedly telephoned and written letters to Jodie
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Hinckley described himself as an anti-semitic and white supremacist. Before Ronald Hinckley had been stalking Jimmy Carter while on his campaign trail in Dayton, Ohio and Nashville, Tennessee. Hinckley had been seeing a psychiatrist sporadically when he lived with his parents in Evergreen, Colorado. Hinckley had had no public record of mental illness. (Winter pg 724) As far as a criminal record a police background check was run on Hinckley a few days before he bought a pair of guns in Texas and nothing turned up. Hinckley purchased the Reagan assassination gun a .22-caliber Rohm RG-14 revolver, for $45, as well as another gun. Regarding the gun types he seemed to emulated the assassin character from Taxi Driver. Hinckley bought two handguns within a five-day period, the retailer reported the sales to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. In 1980-1981 U.S. Secret Service commissioned a study of presidential assassins. (On pg 268-269) Their were two main categories, the crazies and terrorists. Crazies- were bewildered, mentally incompetent, should be under permanent mental institutional …show more content…
Hinckley opened fir with his .22-Caliber RG-14 pistol and fired six shots in 1.7 seconds. One of the bullets ended ip ricocheting off the presidential limousine and wounded Reagan. The bullet entered under his left arm pit, pierced chest, bounced off 7th rib and plowed into left lung. (Abrams) Hinckley wounded 4 men in seconds.The shots also wounded presidential press secretary James Brady, D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty, and Secret Service agent Timothy J. McCarthy. Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy who is credited to saving Reagan's life and was shot in the rib. (Chidester)Hinckley's parents Jack and Joann paid for his expensive legal defense and eventually moved to Virginia so they could visit him in the hospital and participate in family therapy with him. Ultimately not found guilty for reasons of insanity.(Lurigo) Hinckley was considered a loner. (Capps pg 247-249) Hinckley's parents dedicated themselves to raising public awareness of mental health problems, and raising funds for mental health research and
Hinckley described himself as an anti-semitic and white supremacist. Before Ronald Hinckley had been stalking Jimmy Carter while on his campaign trail in Dayton, Ohio and Nashville, Tennessee. Hinckley had been seeing a psychiatrist sporadically when he lived with his parents in Evergreen, Colorado. Hinckley had had no public record of mental illness. (Winter pg 724) As far as a criminal record a police background check was run on Hinckley a few days before he bought a pair of guns in Texas and nothing turned up. Hinckley purchased the Reagan assassination gun a .22-caliber Rohm RG-14 revolver, for $45, as well as another gun. Regarding the gun types he seemed to emulated the assassin character from Taxi Driver. Hinckley bought two handguns within a five-day period, the retailer reported the sales to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. In 1980-1981 U.S. Secret Service commissioned a study of presidential assassins. (On pg 268-269) Their were two main categories, the crazies and terrorists. Crazies- were bewildered, mentally incompetent, should be under permanent mental institutional …show more content…
Hinckley opened fir with his .22-Caliber RG-14 pistol and fired six shots in 1.7 seconds. One of the bullets ended ip ricocheting off the presidential limousine and wounded Reagan. The bullet entered under his left arm pit, pierced chest, bounced off 7th rib and plowed into left lung. (Abrams) Hinckley wounded 4 men in seconds.The shots also wounded presidential press secretary James Brady, D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty, and Secret Service agent Timothy J. McCarthy. Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy who is credited to saving Reagan's life and was shot in the rib. (Chidester)Hinckley's parents Jack and Joann paid for his expensive legal defense and eventually moved to Virginia so they could visit him in the hospital and participate in family therapy with him. Ultimately not found guilty for reasons of insanity.(Lurigo) Hinckley was considered a loner. (Capps pg 247-249) Hinckley's parents dedicated themselves to raising public awareness of mental health problems, and raising funds for mental health research and