The man who shot Ronald Reagan at the Washington Hilton in 1981 has said it was “spooky” for him to learn of Saturday’s shooting at the hotel during a prestigious media gala attended by Donald Trump and senior members of the president’s administration.
In an interview with TMZ published on Monday, John Hinckley Jr also observed that “bad things keep happening” at the hotel and maintained it was “just not a secure place to hold big events”.
Hinckley’s voice was perhaps an unconventional addition to the growing chorus posing questions about the level of security on Saturday at the Washington Hilton, which implemented measures that were more rigorous than usual and kept the president safe. Those steps, however, did not prevent the White House press dinner from being canceled after a Secret Service agent was struck in his ballistic vest as an armed guest breached an interior security checkpoint.
Monday’s remarks from Hinckley came 44 years after he shot Reagan with a revolver – while suffering from acute psychosis and hoping to gain the attention of the actor Jodie Foster.
Hinckley also wounded the then president’s secretary, James Brady; a police officer; and a Secret Service agent.
He was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982 and ordered to live at a psychiatric hospital before being granted a full release from all mental health treatment and legal supervision restrictions in 2022.
TMZ approached Hinckley, 70, in the wake of Saturday’s violence at the Washington Hilton, which has a plaque marking the site of the attempt on Reagan’s life. Hinckley used the occasion to tell TMZ that he perceived security at the Washington Hilton to be “lax” when, pretending to be a news media member, he shot Reagan and the three others – an event that prompted the hotel to implement fortifications against another such attack.
He also told the outlet that he learned of Saturday’s shooting outside the White House correspondents’ dinner when a news alert flashed on his phone. He said he then began watching television coverage of the shooting, which required the Secret Service to evacuate Trump, Melania Trump and several senior administration officials.
Beside sharing his opinion about the safety of hosting events at the Washington Hilton, Hinckley described experiencing a “spooky” feeling upon realizing the shooting “took place at the same hotel as mine did”.
The suspect in Saturday’s attack, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, was arrested after being fired at by the Secret Service but not struck. He is charged with attempting to assassinate the president, among other crimes.
Echoing Hinckley, a manifesto attributed to Allen mocked an “insane” lack of security for the press dinner at the Washington Hilton.
A statement from a Washington Hilton spokesperson, meanwhile, said the hotel was operating under security protocols from the Secret Service, the entity responsible for protecting US presidents.
Saturday was not the first time a shooting involving Trump had caused a public reaction from Hinckley. After an assassination attempt targeted Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally in July 2024, Hinckley wrote on X: “Violence is not the way to go. Give peace a chance.”
Hinckley has tried to pursue a second act as a folk musician and painter in the years since receiving his full freedom. In December, he published a memoir titled John Hinckley Jr: Who I Really Am.
