Mark David Chapman was a narcissist who had a list of 5 different celebrities living in New York that he'd like to kill to make himself infamous. John Lennon was the most accessible. he then spun a story of being obsessed with the Beatles and with the book the Catcher in the Rye. but truly, it was because John kept the same routine and regularly interacted with the public, which made him the easiest target on the list.
Mental health issues are swept under the table then and it's difficult to stop a person with a mental health issue from hurting someone if they don't have a record or not getting help.
Well anyone can be a victim of random acts of violence..
The guy who shot Lennon was mentally unstable, so there is that reason..
The bguy who shot him was once a supporter of Lennon but later saw Lennon as a traitor to the leftist cause.. Lots of Lennon's songs had a left leaning bent.. But Lennon himself lived in luxury as a rich man so this guy thought Lennon was a fake.
@Richard65 What does ones beliefs about Jesus have to do with ones politics? There are left denominations, what they call liberal progressive churches and there are conservative churches so ones beliefs in regard to Jesus does not determine their social or economic positions ..
@Tanaka Lennon was simply stating a fact that The Beatles had more of an impact on the day-to-day lives of youths in the 1960s than religion did (represented by Jesus). American conservatives, as usual, completely misunderstood the meaning of his comment and overreacted by organising Nazi-esque record burning sessions. No surprises there.
@Tanaka I suspect it was a joke, and irreverent jokes do trigger our religious fanatics. But I don’t think that was a factor in his murder 14 years later.
John Hinckley - was reportedly seeking fame to impress the actress Jodie Foster, with whom he had a fixation. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity
SW-User
@nedkelly why does everyone in the comments think John Hinckley shot John Lennon? it was Mark David Chapman. John Hinckley shot Ronald Reagan for the reasons you list. Mark Chapman killed Lennon because he wanted notoriety and Lennon was an easy target
@SW-User It has also been reported - but not widely reported - that John Hinckley's father was George H.W. Bush's deputy at Bush's oil company;Bush being Vice-President to Ronald Reagan at the time,2 months after Reagan became President.
@SW-User Didn't Chapman read some article about Lennon and somewhere in the article it spoke of Lennon looking at stocks or something. Chapman thought he was a capitalist rich fake.
SW-User
@JimboSaturn i have no idea about John reading articles about stocks but it is interesting when rich people talk about giving all away for peace and love. but yeah... i think it was a convenient thing to cite as a reason. makes me wonder what he'd have used for a reason if he'd have been able to access any of the other people on his list.
@Tanaka 😞who knows john lennon was a peace lving man but sadly in the united states there are a lot of people not right in the head and armed to kill innocent people sadly