The Nation - News from Sept. 21, 1989

Presidential assailant John W. Hinckley Jr. referred to Charles Manson last year as a “cool dude,” the government disclosed in court. Hinckley made the comments in a June 2, 1988, letter in which he thanked a man for sending him a semi-nude caricature of actress Jodie Foster, which Hinckley had requested, according to testimony by psychiatrist Raymond Patterson. The testimony came in a hearing before U.S. District Court Judge June Green on Hinckley’s request for face-to-face access to the media, which he says will prove that he is sane. Testimony was to continue Monday. Hinckley was acquitted by reason of insanity in the March, 1981, shooting of former President Ronald Reagan and three others. “I am not a follower, but he is one cool dude,” Hinckley said of Manson.