John W. Hinckley, Jr. nearly killed a sitting president. Today, in a Washington DC courthouse , his hospital and attorney are fighting to get Hinckley more free time in Williamsburg. Eventually, they want him to live permanently in Williamsburg’s gated Kingsmill community.
Neighbors in Williamsburg cringe at the thought. They’re now speaking out with their concerns.
"I don’t really believe that Mr. Hinckley ought to be able to move freely period," Robert Camp told 10 On Your Side’s David Culver. It’s taken a lot for Robert Camp to say those words aloud. For three years he’s kept quiet, worried about his name being attached to a story — a story about an attempted assassin living among us.
Camp lives a few house over from an 86-year-old woman who neighbors say keeps to herself. She’s not the problem. It’s her son: John Hinckley, Jr. Neighbors call him an unwelcomed visitor. Camp has come face-to-face with Hinckley several times.
"In every instance he was walking the street in our community … alone." Camp said.
Pam Michael also lives in Kingsmill. She and Camp didn’t know each other before a 10 On Your Side interview. Although they were both reluctant to speak in public, they broke their silence for fear of what would happen if Hinckley were released full-time into their community.
"I could not imagine that Lee Harvey Oswald, Sirhan Sirhan or John Wilkes Booth would be welcomed in any neighborhood in this country," Michael said.
Unlike those assassins, Hinckley did not kill Reagan, but he came close.
Camp worries about the unknown saying, "I don’t think anybody knows what he is capable of if he is not on medication, if he’s not supervised."
Hinckley’s visits to Williamsburg started as supervised, short trips in 2006. Since then he’s had more free time.
Read more about Kingsmill in Williamsburg VA here
Filed under: James City County Williamsburg VA Neighborhoods, Kingsmill |
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