Ronald Reagan’s would-be assassin makes major announcement

The would-be assassin of former President Ronald Reagan has a new business venture, he announced Monday.
John Hinckley Jr., who shot and wounded Reagan in 1981 and was acquitted by reason of insanity, had spent decades in a Washington mental health hospital after the assassination attempt. Since being freed from court oversight in 2022, Hinckley has spent recent years posting videos of his music and promoting live shows.
And on Monday, Hinckley announced he would be opening up a music store.
“I’ll be opening a music store in Williamsburg, Va. The address is 455 Merrimack Trail. Grand opening is in a week or two!” he wrote on social media platform X.
Hinckley has also promoted his live music shows on X, but has noted that some venues have cancelled on him in the past. He also posts his music to his YouTube channel.
After the 2024 election, Hinckley told his followers to stop with the “negative” comments.
“A lot of the comments on my Twitter/X feed have been alarming, so I have to keep reminding people that I am a changed person from the way I was in 1981,” he wrote in a blog post.
“My songs are about peace and love and overcoming hard times. A lot of people have told me that listening to my songs helps them get through their day. I strive for positive vibes, not the negativity you see everywhere today,” he added.
Hinckley told The New York Times in a July interview that he uses music to “redeem” himself.
“People have different definitions of redemption,” Hinckley told The New York Times. “My definition of redemption is to make amends for all the negativity that I created in 1981. I’m trying to redeem myself through positive music, through a thing that people really like — as opposed to the things they really hated about me, in 1981.”
He also said in the interview that while he enjoys living in Williamsburg, Va. because people do not bother him, he has thought about living in more music-centered cities like Nashville, Los Angeles or New York.
“I’m basically a struggling musician,” he told the Times. “I’ve had a lot of people say to me, ‘John, you’re like so many other struggling musicians.’ And it’s true. I am.”
Hinckley did not provide any other details about his music store on social media on Monday.
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