John Hinckley Jr. Tanner Salva

Background & Early Life Born in Ardmore, Oklahoma, on May 29, 1955, John Warnock Hinckley Jr. became infamous in 1981 for his attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. He had a seemingly normal childhood in his early years. He was the youngest of three children. His father was a successful businessman in the energy industry. Hinckley and his family moved to Texas when he was just a few years old. From all reports, he was a good student and did well in sports, especially basketball and football. Things seemed to change for Hinckley in high school, however. He lost interest in sports and friends, choosing instead to play his guitar and listen to music alone in his room.

Background & Early life cont After graduating high school, Hinckley attended Texas Tech University in the mid-1970s. He quit college in 1976 and moved to California. Hinckley wanted to be a songwriter, but his career never really took off. Later that year, he moved in with his parents who lived In Colorado. Hinckley drifted around over the next few years, living in California and then in Texas. During this time, he became fascinated with the 1976 film ‘Taxi Driver’ starring Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster. The film is about a disfranchised cabbie who wants to save a young prostitute and stalks a presidential candidate. Hinckley saw Taxi Driver up to 15 times. His obsession with this film is what lead him to commit this crime. He had a completely clean record until this happened.

Attempted assassination On March 30, 1981 He shot President Ronald Reagan and three other men outside of the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. Reagan was leaving the hotel after giving a speech to a gathering of union members when Hinckley fired several shots at the president and his entourage. Reagan's press secretary James Brady was the most severely wounded—he was struck in the head. A police officer was hit in the back, and a Secret Service agent was shot in the abdomen. Another of Hinckley's bullets pierced one of the president's lungs, narrowly missing his heart.

The victims Reagan under went surgery to repair his lung. He would make a full recovery and be alright. James Brady wasn't as fortunate. He was left with permanent brain damage and confined to a wheelchair. Brady later became a well-known gun control advocate. When he died in 2014, Brady's death was ruled a homicide.

John Hinckley Jr. trial It was pretty obvious that Hinckley committed the crime as there were dozens of witnesses around. The government knew and even his own defense attorney knew. They even caught the crime on video tape. The only way out of Hinckley was the insanity defense and it worked. John Hinckley Jr. was found not guilty by reason of insanity. John Hinckley’s plead for insanity enraged Americans. People said that justice was not served. This lead to the Insanity Defense Act of 1984

Books A Case Study in the Insanity Defense- The Trial of John W. Hinckley, Jr., The Insanity Defense and the Trial of John Hinckley Jr.

John hinckley jr quotes “Guns are neat little things, aren't they? They can kill extraordinary people with very little effort.” “One kills a man, one is an assassin; one kills millions, one is a conqueror; one kills everybody, one is a god” “Why do we kill people who are killing people to show that killing people is wrong?”

theory Anomie Theory John Hinckley Jr. best fits the anomie theory. He best fits the anomie theory because of his retreat from civilization. He began to isolate himself from society and would spend a lot of time alone. He would stay all day alone in his room. He would blast music loudly and read books alone. He also became addicted to a film called “Taxi Driver” which then ultimately lead to his assassination attempt. This goes along with the ritualism trait, he would watch this film over and over. He began to be addicted to the film.

There were no movies or TV shows about John Hinckley Jr There were no movies or TV shows about John Hinckley Jr. There are no songs about John Hinckley Jr. John Hinckley Jr. has no nickname