The man who tried to assassinate President Reagan speaks about his remorse | Nightline

hello everybody why sit down and do this interview i'm trying to show the public that i'm i'm not the person that i was so many years ago that people shouldn't be judged on their worst actions yes and yet obviously you did more than most on your worst day that day was march 30th 1981. here you see the president coming out now you just have to watch i don't know we can hear this or not there it is john hinckley jr tried to assassinate president ronald reagan there are two or three people here they're taking away yes he appears to be blonde he is seized as the as the suspect hinckley's shooting spree would make him one of the most notorious criminals in american history a bullet puncturing president reagan's lung almost killing him a secret service agent and police officer also wounded hinckley's fourth victim press secretary jim brady suffering brain damage paralyzed for life john hinckley was charged with 13 crimes later acquitted by reason of insanity i was the most scrutinized mental patient in america even my judge said that and now at 67 he is free after 41 years under medical supervision he spent 34 of those years here at saint elizabeth's psychiatric hospital in washington dc eventually becoming an outpatient and living with his mother his medications and movements remained supervised but all that came to an end with the court ruling this past june his freedom a test of redemption at the intersection of gun violence and mental illness i worked hard i walked the line for 41 years and did everything i needed to do to get my freedom can you understand why some would see you as a danger to society not now no why because i'm not if they want to think i'm the person that i was 41 years ago yes i could see that but that's not the person i am now just before the assassination attempt hinckley told us he felt cut off from society what was going on in your mind i was just totally depressed totally despairing of my life i thought i had no know where to turn i'd become totally estranged from my family that was the worst part of it i was totally isolated an undiagnosed psychiatric disorder made him obsessed with the movie taxi driver you talking to me about a loner plotting to assassinate a presidential candidate the film starred jody foster who hinckley was stalking in real life i don't know who's weirder you or me i had the delusion back in 1981 that by shooting the president i can impress jody foster which me saying that now is it's ridiculous but that's what i believe back then it was in ways like a suicide attempt just saying this is it this is end of my life he was diagnosed with five severe mental disorders and found to have serious defects in reality testing insight and judgment making him an unpredictably dangerous person do you ever worry that you might relapse no i take my meds i you know even even though i don't have to now i still take my meds i read that you take an anti-anxiety and an antipsychotic is that right yes what makes you feel that you can be trusted i mean do you trust yourself i do not to relapse i've always felt the meds help and i still feel that way because a lot of people think if you're criminally insane that's incurable it's not incurable i'm sitting here as proof positive it is that it's curable hinckley's crimes back in 1981 changed gun control in the u.s in 1993 james brady and his wife sarah helped pass the brady act and the brady law ushered in a waiting period and background checks right especially with regard to people who were suffering mental illness i certainly don't think the mentally ill should have access to guns i mean that's kind of obvious background checks are good and waiting periods are good i think there's too many guns in america and coming from you that's quite a statement well i hope it is because that's the way i feel there was no background check system when hinkley bought his gun at a texas pawn shop with a fake id a felony offense though hinckley says he's wanted to apologize for years he's been prohibited by law from contacting his victims and their families ronald reagan famously forgave you what message do you have for the reagan family now well for the reagan family for the brady family for the families of the other vic two victims for jody foster i apologize for what i've done for what i did 41 years ago i'm truly sorry i really am i'm not sure they could forgive me and i probably wouldn't even blame them if they don't forgive me if i could take it back i surely would and i pray i pray for the family every night i remember that day as if it was yesterday danny spriggs was a secret service agent on president reagan's detail seen here that day he was uninjured and became hinckley's arresting officer i believe in rehabilitation for individuals for certain crimes in this particular case we had two individuals who received injuries that disabled them for the rest of their lives i don't necessarily think he's earned the right to be free he extended his apologies not just to the reagan family the brady family jody foster and all of the agents on that day do you accept his apology i do not accept his apology because i don't think the sufficient accountability has been rendered in this particular case you could see why somebody would be skeptical that's why i'm talking to you and trying to show that i'm not that person anymore do you think you've paid your debt to society yes i do in what way i worked hard to overcome my illness and and [Music] i'm trying to give back to the world now through my music and my art and that's kind of kind of my way of paying back my debt to society hi everyone george stephanopoulos here thanks for checking out the abc news youtube channel if you'd like to get more videos show highlights and watch live event coverage click on the right over here to subscribe to our channel and don't forget to download the abc news app for breaking news alerts thanks for watching

Channel: ABC News

Views: 1,374,393

Keywords: Former, Hinckley, John, Jr, President, Reagan, Ronald, abc, abcnews, assignation, attempt, crime, gun, laws, p_cmsid=2494279, p_vid=news-86287452, remorse

Id: bzRF3KjdCUA

Length: 6min 48sec (408 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 06 2022