You'll Never Believe This, but John Hinckley Jr's (the guy who tried to assassinate Ronald Reagan in 1981) Brooklyn Concert Has Been CANCELED

In April, I wrote a blog about how John Hinckley Jr, the guy who tried to assassinate Ronald Reagan in 1981, is pursuing a career in the arts. Today, he was officially granted his full release from supervision, but it came with some bad news (for him).

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

— John Hinckley (@JohnHinckley20) June 15, 2022

Hinckley was scheduled to perform at Market Hotel in Brooklyn on July 8th, but due to the whole he tried to kill the President of the United States thing, they've changed their tune. Today, Market Hotel posted this message on Instagram to explain their decision. 

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A post shared by MARKET HOTEL (@market.hotel)

I'm not like a John Hinckley Jr. fan or anything. I'm not upset with their decision, and apart from needing something to blog before I head over to my grandma's for a fam night, I really couldn't give less of a fuck about this guy. I said in the last blog he doesn't have the name recognition of a successful assassin like Sirhan Sirhan or Jack Ruby, which I feel like I need to correct. I don't think Jack Ruby counts as an assassin since he killed Lee Harvey Oswalt, who was not a political figure, although assassin just means killer...I'm getting it mixed up with assassination. Sirhan Sirhan assassinated Bobby Kennedy; Lee Harvey Oswalt got shot by Jack Ruby on live TV. Big difference, but anyway, I get where Market Hotel is coming from.

I'm all for revamping the criminal justice system. The goal should be to help people recover and reintroduce them to society, not just lock them in a box (obviously depending on the crime; let rapists and murderers rot away, idc). Hinckley was proven insane and paid his time. But he only got this opportunity because he tried to snipe Reagan. It's not like he's some incredible talent. Anybody with a brain and soul that wasn't profiting from his horrors knows Reagan was a terrible person who sold weapons to Iraq and Iran, fucked over the middle class, mistreated black people, and turned a blind eye to AIDS as millions died, but that doesn't mean you can kill him (I have to say that). 

It'd be one thing if Hinckley did what he did, paid his time, pursued a musical career, then created a hit album or even single, but this was one big publicity stunt, and the potential risks weren't worth it. Market Hotel basically spelled that out in the post. I mean, it worked. It got people talking about this little venue. You never saw me blogging about Market Hotel until this story broke. 

I agree that this guy performing doesn't really do any real damage, but in our current gun-driven, multiple mass shootings a week culture, it's pretty easy to understand why the plug was pulled before he ever got on stage. You can't give Hinckley this platform, even if it is just a little room in Brooklyn. Congrats on your freedom, though.