Failed presidential assassin John Hinckley Jr. celebrated his impending freedom from court-ordered medication and therapy sessions in a low-key fashion on Tuesday, exclusive images obtained by The Post show.
Hinckley, 66, spent nearly 90 minutes inside an office building in Williamsburg, Va., where he was photographed walking through the parking lot after getting out of a silver Toyota Avalon sedan.
The would-be killer of then-President Ronald Reagan clutched a baby-blue, surgical-style mask and wore an untucked, short-sleeve, plaid button-down shirt over his portly frame, along with a blue baseball cap, navy slacks and black, orthopedic-style shoes.
The shirt appears to be the same one that Hinckley — an aspiring singer-songwriter who last year won a court battle to showcase his music — recently wore in a YouTube video that shows him performing his original “We Will See This Through.”
John Hinckley Jr. wounded President Ronald Reagan and three others outside a Washington, D.C., hotel in a failed assassination attempt in 1981. TheImageDirect.com
John Hinckley Jr. had an obsession with “Taxi Driver.” TheImageDirect.com
Hinckley wounded four, including former President Reagan in the shooting 40 years ago. TheImageDirect.comIt’s unclear what he did inside the office building, which houses businesses including an insurance agency, a chiropractic and acupuncture clinic, and psychiatric offices.
Hinckley moved to Williamsburg in 2016 to live with his late mom after 35 years of in-patient treatment for the mental illness that led him to open fire outside the Washington Hilton Hotel on March 31, 1981, wounding the late Reagan and three others.
Hinckley — who was obsessed by the 1976 movie “Taxi Driver” and actress Jodie Foster, who co-starred with Robert De Niro as a child prostitute — was ruled not guilty by reason of insanity after being diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder and other ailments.
John Hinckley Jr. was ruled not guilty by reason of insanity. HANDOUT/AFP via Getty Images
John Hinckley Jr. had 35 years of in-patient treatment for mental illness. EPA/FBI / HANDOUT
John Hinckley Jr. is spotted for the first time since a judge granted him unconditional release next year. TheImageDirect.comOn Monday, his lawyer struck a deal with federal prosecutors that could grant him “unconditional” release from the conditions imposed for his release from St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, DC.
Those conditions also bar him from possessing a gun and from contacting Foster, Reagan’s children, the other victims of his attack or their families.
During Monday’s court hearing, DC federal Judge Paul Friedman said all the restrictions would be lifted in June if Hinckley continued to follow them and remained mentally stable.
John Hinckley Jr. had been living with his mother in Virginia for several years under certain court restrictions. TheImageDirect.com
View of police officers and Secret Service agents as they dive to protect President Ronald Reagan amid a panicked crowd during an assassination attempt, March 30, 1981. Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesFriedman noted that Hinckley hasn’t shown any symptoms of mental illness, been violent or expressed an interest in weapons since 1983.
“If he hadn’t tried to kill the president, he would have been unconditionally released a long, long, long time ago,” the judge said.
