Ronald Reagan’s Would-Be Assassin Loses Concert Gig
In one of the oddest stories, the would-be assassin of Ronald Reagan was meant to go on tour but has since had his sold-out show canceled.
In one of the oddest stories, you will likely read today, it turns out that John Hinckley Jr. will not be performing at a sold-out concert he had intended to after being released from court supervision care. For those who do not remember the man, he was convicted of an attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan back in 1981. Apparently, while locked up in prison, the man turned himself into quite the musician. This budding music career led to the man creating quite a following on YouTube and Spotify. So much so, that it led to the singer/songwriter selling out a venue in the Brooklyn area. However, the venue has since canceled the performance, chalking it up to “safety concerns.” You can read the announcement below:
The world is tense right now, especially with the news of mass shootings that have plagued the country for years. John Hinckley Jr. enacted his own mass shooting back in 1981 when he shot Ronald Reagan, police officer Thomas Delahanty, Press Secretary James Brady, and Secret Service agent, Tim McCarthy. Secretary Brady became permanently disabled due to the injury sustained from the shooting and would die 33 years later from complications relating to the shooting. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He claimed that he shot the president to garner the attention of famed actress, Jodie Foster. That obsession was still prevalent while he was in psychiatric care in the 1980s and 1990s. He was placed in psychiatric care in the 1980s and stayed there until 2016. He has since been granted a full release, which occurred just yesterday. You can see that announcement on his Twitter below:
The Market Hotel had initially approved the concert through a third-party promoter, and was willing to hold the performance by John Hinckley Jr. However, likely due to public outcry, the venue had no choice but to cancel the concert. Based on the hotel’s statement, “There was a time when a place could host a thing like this, maybe a little offensive, and the reaction would be ‘it’s just a guy playing a show, who does it hurt — it’s a free country.’ We aren’t living in that kind of free country anymore, for better or for worse.” The community in Brooklyn and surrounding the venue might have voiced their concerns too much that it left the hotel no choice but to cancel the show. Even though Hinckley was found not guilty and was allegedly suffering from mental health issues at the time, he did still shoot several people. However, he has gone through psychiatric care and supervision for most of his life. It might be fair to say that the man has paid his dues to society, though it’s hard to forget the violence he enacted.
Whatever everyone feels about the situation, John Hinckley Jr. will not be performing in his sold-out show. The venue likely had enough of the displeasure of attempting to book him in the first place that they decided to do away with the drama surrounding booking the man. His court supervision is now over, so it stands to reason that he might still attempt to take on performances elsewhere. For now, he just won’t be allowed to play at the Market Hotel.
