A post on the X account of a man who attempted to assassinate then-President Ronald Reagan in 1981 called for an end to violence on Wednesday following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
Trump was slightly wounded Saturday during the attempted assassination at a Butler County, Pennsylvania, rally, which left former volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore dead and two other attendees wounded. John Hinckley Jr., whose recent posts on X mostly consisted of photos of paintings he was selling on eBay, issued the apparent plea Wednesday on the social media site. (RELATED: ‘One Party Alone’: WaPo Columnist Blames Trump, GOP For ‘Political Violence’ Following Assassination Attempt)
Violence is not the way to go. Give peace a chance.
— John Hinckley (@JohnHinckley20) July 17, 2024
“Violence is not the way to go,” the brief post on Hinckley’s account said. “Give peace a chance.”
Hinckley was released from confinement in a mental hospital in 2016 by a federal judge, with all conditions removed in 2022 after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity following the attempted assassination, which wounded Reagan. Hickley fired six shots from a .22-caliber revolver at Reagan who was leaving an event on March 30, 1981, hitting him once in the chest, while also wounding then-White House press secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent and a local police officer.
The would-be assassin has since become a singer, posting videos to YouTube.
Trump previously faced an assassination threat during his successful 2016 campaign for President. A 20-year-old man from the United Kingdom admitted that he tried to take a police officer’s gun in order to shoot Trump during a June 2016 campaign event in Las Vegas, but was thwarted by the officer and taken into custody, according to a December 2016 Justice Department release.
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