“Freedom at last”: John Hinckley Jr. fully released from court restrictions 41 years after failed assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan

John Hinckley Jr., who shot and wounded President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was released from court oversight Wednesday, officially concluding decades of supervision by legal and mental health professionals.

John Hinckley Jr. was freed from all court restrictions on Wednesday after 41 years. Hinckley attempted to assassinate former U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Although a failed assassination, he successfully wound the President and three others.

Celebrating his freedom on Twitter with a post, Hinckley said:

"After 41 years, 2 months and 15 days, FREEDOM AT LAST!!!"

Hinckley's freedom was on the condition that he would remain mentally healthy, said U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman in Washington.

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John Hinckley is to be freed at 67

In his 1982 trial, a jury found Hinckley not guilty by reason of insanity, after which he spent decades in a Washington mental hospital. But his acquittal prompted Congress and some US states to pass a law restricting the use of insanity as a defense.

Over the years, his restrictions were relaxed. This included the lifting of limits on his social media use. In the past few months, there has been a rise in his following on social media. He posts videos of himself performing love songs and other tunes on YouTube.

Earlier this month, Judge Paul Friedman said Hinckley was on track to be fully released from court supervision and set the release date for June 15.

Judge Friedman said:

"This is the time to let John Hinckley move on with his life, so we will."

In September last year, the judge ruled that Hinckley was "mentally stable." However, Reagan's daughter Patti Davis opposed his release.

However, John Hinckley received a full-time conditional release in 2016 after spending three decades in a psychiatric hospital in Washington. Since then, John Hinckley lived with his mother in Virginia until her death last year.

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Historians say Hinckley is already forgotten by history

Apart from inspiring a stricter gun control and making Reagan legendary, historians say Hinckley is a "misguided soul whom history has already forgotten."

Speaking about Reagan, HW Brands, a historian and Reagan biographer said:

"If Hinckley had succeeded in killing Reagan, then he would have been a pivotal historical figure."

Meanwhile, Barbara A. Perry, professor and director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Center said at best, Hinckley "would be maybe a Jeopardy question."

She then went on to say:

"For the president himself to have been so seriously wounded, and to come back from that — that actually made Ronald Reagan the legend that he became … like the movie hero that he was."

But she maintained that Hinckley's impact will always be felt in Reagan's legacy.