The assassination attempt on the musician John Hinckley Jr. is free from judicial oversight, but he is not yet free to engage in rock and roll.
Hinckley, who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was scheduled to perform at a sold-out concert in Brooklyn the following month, but the venue was canceled.
The Market Hotel in Bushwick announced on Wednesday that the July 8 event had been canceled.
“We don’t see the need to allow someone who has done something terrible to jump the line and even play on our medium-sized independent public scene,” the event said in a statement posted on Instagram.
“And in doing so, we are putting our vulnerable communities at risk (without their consent) – especially if this artist would not have sold the tickets without the story of who they are and the violent thing they did.”
Hinckley, 67, opened fire on Reagan on March 30, 1981, in front of the Hilton in Washington, D.C. He wounded the 40th president, his spokesman James Brady, police officer Thomas Delahanti and Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy.
Reagan recovered from his injuries, but Brady spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair while Delahanti suffered nerve damage.
Secret Service agent Timothy J. McCarthy, in the foreground, Washington police officer Thomas K. Delehanti, in the center, and presidential spokesman James Brady, in the background, lying wounded on the street in front of a hotel in Washington after shots fired at US President Ronald Reagan.AP
Hinckley, then 25, reportedly shot the president in a mad attempt to get the attention of actress Jody Foster.
He was acquitted of insanity in 1982 and taken to a psychiatric hospital in DC for several decades. He was released from the hospital in 2016 and has since lived in a community in Virginia under judicial supervision.
Hinckley was officially released from judicial supervision on Wednesday and planned to celebrate his release by performing 17 original songs on the Brooklyn show.
“Many thanks to everyone who helped me get my unconditional release. How long has this been a strange journey, “he tweeted earlier this month. “Now is the time for rock’n’roll.”
Market Hotel canceled the show – which costs $ 20 each – after an intense backlash.
“There was a time when a place could host something like that, maybe a little offensive, and the reaction would be, ‘it’s just a man playing a show that hurts him – it’s a free country.'” . “We no longer live in this kind of free country, for better or for worse.”
The concert venue said it hoped Hinckley’s concert would send a message that people can recover and move beyond mental health problems and a criminal past, and said the performer was virtually harmless.
John Hinckley Jr. was released from judicial supervision in June 2022.AP
“It’s a six-year-old with an acoustic guitar,” it said. “All the outrage and concern is entirely related to the quote message he sends without a quote.”
Hinckley went from being a former criminal to a musician when he started posting self-recorded videos on YouTube, in which he sang with a slight tingling sensation and played the guitar on YouTube in December 2020.
On his channel, which has more than 28,000 subscribers, he has uploaded dozens of videos of both original songs and covers of artists such as Johnny Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley. Many of his original songs are also available on iTunes and Spotify.
“I’m really looking forward to my concert in Brooklyn, New York on July 8,” Hinckley wrote on Twitter last month. “I’ll have a bassist and a drummer to support me.”
Market Hotel said the show was not worth the risk of “reserving some stunts” for a musician “who doesn’t care at the artist level and who upsets people in a dangerously radical, reactionary climate.”
Hinckley also booked a show in Hamden, Connecticut on July 16, according to a tweet. However, the venue for this show, Space Ballroom, does not list the concert on its July calendar or on its social media pages.
Add Comment