History repeats after 45 years in Washington Hilton Hotel: Man shot at President Reagan to impress heroine

Firing took place during the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night in the US capital Washington DC. President Donald Trump was also present in this program. This incident happened at Washington Hilton Hotel. This 60-year-old hotel is known for its M-shaped design. The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has been taking place here for a long time. Apart from this, big programs like First Lady Lunch and National Prayer Breakfast are also organized here. The history of this hotel has also been quite famous. About 45 years ago, there was a fatal attack on the then President Ronald Reagan, in which he was seriously injured. This attack was carried out by John W. Hinckley Jr. He had fired six bullets at the President to impress a film actress. Reagan survived five times and was hit by the sixth bullet. The incident occurred on March 30, 1981. Reagan was walking to his car after attending a meeting in Washington DC. There was a crowd of media and people around him. Suddenly a person emerged from the same crowd and started firing at Reagan. Five bullets were fired at Reagan, but he dodged every bullet. He also escaped the sixth bullet, but it bounced off the windshield of the bulletproof car and returned to Reagan and lodged in his chest. Reagan fell to the ground. He was immediately taken to the hospital. Doctors removed the bullet from his chest in time, saving his life. In this incident, three of Reagan’s associates were also shot, but like Reagan, they also survived. The shooter, John Hinckley, was captured at the scene. Hinckley had watched the movie Taxi Driver 18 times. The shooter, Hinckley, was struggling with mental problems for a long time. He had a great desire to become recognized and famous. The 1976 film ‘Taxi Driver’ had a great impact on him. A character in this film tries to kill the presidential candidate. Since he tried to kill a corrupt leader, he becomes a hero in the eyes of the people. He had seen this film 18 times. He became crazy about the film’s actress Jodie Foster. He wanted to impress her. She wrote several letters to him, made phone calls, even stalked him, but received no response. Gradually, he started thinking that if he attacks a big leader, he will become famous all over the world and will be able to impress Jodie Foster. Hinckley stalked then-President Jimmy Carter during the 1980 presidential election. During this time, he kept going to different rallies with the aim of killing them. He became very close to Carter at an event in Tennessee. But the police became suspicious after seeing a bag in his hand. When the police searched, three handguns were found in it. After this he was immediately taken into custody. A case was made against him for possessing illegal weapons, but it could not be made out to be a case of directly ‘attacking the President’, because he did not try to fire. He was kept in custody for some time, but later got bail. Reagan was attacked after coming out of jail. After coming out of jail, power in America had changed. Ronald Reagan had become President. He decided to attack Reagan himself. However, after his arrest, the lawyer proved through his arguments in the court that Hinckley was not mentally well and it was not only Hinckley, but also the film that was guilty of attacking the President. Considering him mentally unstable, the court kept him in a mental hospital instead of sending him to jail. There he remained under treatment and observation for about 30-35 years. He was allowed out of the hospital in 2016 with strict conditions.



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