John Hinckley Jr

[Norman T. Field]

Anybody have any thoughts on the attempted assassination of Reagan by John Hinkley Jr? He seems like he has lots in common with other LNs like Bremer and Chapman.

Is the a case of the right trying to eat their own?

Or, for that matter, how did Squeaky Fromme get so close to President Ford with a loaded 45? That just happened to 'misfire'. Was this a warning to Gerald to fly right? (small pun intended).

[James Richards]

Anybody have any thoughts on the attempted assassination of Reagan by John Hinkley Jr? He seems like he has lots in common with other LNs like Bremer and Chapman.

Is the a case of the right trying to eat their own?

Or, for that matter, how did Squeaky Fromme get so close to President Ford with a loaded 45? That just happened to 'misfire'. Was this a warning to Gerald to fly right? (small pun intended).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Norman,

I don't know about Hinkley but I am curious about the guy positioned on the balcony in this image below. Snapped just before Reagan was shot, Hinkley at this point is located in the crowd right below this individual, effectively having the same angle of vision.

If this is indeed innocent, then it is still a major security blunder.

FWIW.

James

[Nic Martin]

Or, for that matter, how did Squeaky Fromme get so close to President Ford with a loaded 45? That just happened to 'misfire'. Was this a warning to Gerald to fly right? (small pun intended).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The gun Squeaky had wasn't loaded, according to every source I've found. She just wanted to prove it was possible to get that close to him.

[Pat Speer]

A few curious things about Hinkley...one is that he knew Neil Bush, and had met George W., whose father was set to become the next President should Hinkley's plan have been successful. (Is it possible they'd said something somewhere sometime which encouraged his act?) Two is that Hinkley's supposed motive of impressing Jodie Foster was only half of the story. The book by Hinkley's parents reveals that John wanted to draw attention to the weakness of American gun laws, and the evil of the NRA, and that he thought he could do this by shooting someone famous. His dedication to gun control was what he thought would impress Foster, not his killing Reagan. The press, however, under the influence of the Reagan Administration, opted not to publicize this part of the story, as it might make Hinkley sympathetic, and put the Administration in the unwanted position of having to betray one of its biggest sponsors--the NRA. Instead, it fell on the shoulders of Sarah Brady, the wife of the wounded press secretary, to fight the NRA, a fight she lost just recently when George W. refused to extend the assault weapons ban.

Anyone interested in this should see the film The Day Reagan Was Shot, which revealed the incredible amount of mistakes made by Reagan's young Administration in the hours after the shots. Getting shot could have been Reagan's Bay of Pigs.

Edited August 18, 2005 by Pat Speer

[Jack White]

First page of a 4 page article in TCI in 1981.

Jack

[Jack White]

From a few years ago:

Jack

[Jack White]

From a 2 page article:

Jack

[Nic Martin]

Hmm, I didn't know any of that, thanks Jack.

I always did find it odd that they blamed a movie, makes more sense now. Pretty creative cover story if it was a conspiracy, though.

[Guest Stephen Turner]

If memory serves,(and it doesnt always) wasn't Hinkley arrested for stalking Jimmy Carter with a rifle during the 1979 election campaign. If this is true it seems he was after "Bagging" himself a president come what may. I have to admit Ive always thought of hinkley as that rare bird, a real lone nut....