He Shot A U.S. President & Now Sold-Out Concerts In New York?

We all have our opinions on the criminal justice system, one way or another. However, when it comes to living in a democracy like the United States, some things should be non-negotiable, like getting out of jail after trying to kill the President of the United States. To me, that seems like a no-brainer.

I was born a year after President Kennedy was assassinated. It was my junior year of high school and the first and only time in my life that someone actually shot the President. I hope it was the last. It was March 30, 1981. I remember heading out to baseball practice, which happened to be canceled that day because of the news.

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President Reagan had been shot by John Hinckley Jr. Everyone knew that Hinckley was the shooter but he was found not guilty of the assassination attempt by reason of insanity. He was released from institutional psychiatric care in September 2016. Then, he was freed from oversight in 2021. Now, according to Geoff Herbert of syracuse.com, the attempted assassin is playing music to sold-out concerts in New York City.

WABC in New York City reported that Hinckley is scheduled to perform his music July 8 at the Market Hotel in Brooklyn. Tickets were being sold for $20. Apparently, amazingly, the show is now sold out, according to the venue website.

Hinckley, now 66, was 25 when he shot and wounded President Ronald Reagan outside of a Washington, D.C. hotel, in an effort to reportedly impress actress Jodie Foster, according to syracuse.com. The shooting paralyzed Reagan press secretary James Brady, who died in 2014, and also injured Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and Washington police officer Thomas Delahanty.

According to Herbert, "Hinckley had to get permission from a court to begin releasing art and music under his own name in 2020, leading to his YouTube channel and recently booking a tour." The former assassin has 26,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel. Those numbers and this subject in general, boggles the mind.