Man who tried to assassinate Ronald Reagan says ‘I stand for peace now’
After he says a number of his concerts have been canceled at the last minute by the venues that planned to host them, the man who shot Ronald Reagan in 1981 is telling the public: “I stand for peace now.”
“I want people to know that I’m coming in peace,” John Hinckley said, according to the Connecticut news station WTNH.
The comments from Hinckley, 68, come as his attempt at a second act as a folk musician and painter has apparently run into hitches. Shows he was scheduled to perform in New York, in Chicago, in Virginia and in Hamden, Connecticut, had all reportedly been canceled late in their planning, with organizers citing security concerns and in one instance a threat against organizers.
A promoter, who says he was willing to give Hinckley a second chance despite his attempt to assassinate a US president, had booked him to play Hotel Huxley in Naugatuck, Connecticut, on 30 March – the 43rd anniversary of Reagan’s shooting.
If the show went ahead as scheduled, it would have marked Hinckley’s first ever live performance. And tickets were being sold as of Monday.
But on Tuesday, Hinckley posted on X that the 30 March concert had been postponed.
He didn’t say when – or if – it would be rescheduled, though in a follow-up post he wrote: “I’m looking for a place to open my own music venue.”
Despite the timing of the Hotel Huxley show, Hinckley reportedly said he no longer wants to be associated with shooting Reagan, who died in 2004.
“I stand for peace now,” Hinckley said, according to WTNH. “I know I’m known for an act of violence, but I’m a completely different person than in 1981.”
Hinckley was 25, suffering from acute psychosis and hoping to catch the attention of the actor Jodie Foster when he used a revolver to shoot Reagan and three others outside a Washington DC hotel. In addition to wounding Reagan, the attack paralyzed the then president’s press secretary, James Brady, who died in 2014.
A police officer and a Secret Service agent were also injured.
Hinckley was found not guilty of the shooting by reason of insanity in 1982 and ordered to live at a psychiatrist hospital.
In the 2000s, Hinckley began visiting his parents’ home in a gated community in Williamsburg, Virginia. He obtained legal permission in 2016 to move in with his mother after experts determined his mental illness had long been in remission.
Yet Hinckley had to abide by certain restrictions, including being unable to own a gun or use drugs or alcohol. He also was forbidden from contacting Foster, his victims or their families.
His mother died in July 2021, and he moved into an apartment with his cat, according to court filings reviewed by the Associated Press. In June 2022, he gained his freedom from oversight of court officials and mental health professionals.
“I have true remorse for what I did,” Hinckley said to CBS Mornings after his release from supervision. “I just want them to know that I am sorry for what I did.”
Hinckley also said then that he did not “want to remember” the emotions that he experienced when he shot Reagan, Brady and the others.
Historian Barbara Perry spoke with the AP when Hinckley’s restrictions were fully lifted and said history had mostly forgotten him as a “misguided soul” who unwittingly helped boost Reagan’s legend in some political quarters and prompted a congressional push to require background checks for people buying guns from federally licensed arms dealers.
However, Hinckley has since managed to accumulate more than 90,000 followers on X and YouTube. His YouTube account has videos of his songs, which have titles such as Finally Living Free, I Won’t Go Back Again and She’s My One and Only.
And his X account contains pictures of his cat, Theo; some paintings he has created; and a T-shirt touting the “John Hinckley Redemption Tour”.