It wasn’t cancel culture that scrapped John Hinckley’s Naugatuck performance, it was the building code.

John Hinckley, the man who nearly assassinated President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981, complained last week that his appearance in Naugatuck on the 43rd anniversary of that chilling act was evidence of “cancel culture.” The mewling folk singer told the New York Post that it happens all the time.

“I think that’s fair to say: I’m a victim of cancel culture,” he told The Post. It may, but it did not happen in Naugatuck. The venue at which Hinckley was scheduled to appear does not have the proper permits to host such an event. A cease and desist order was issued to operators of the Hotel Huxley on March 8th.

Naugatuck building official W. L. Herzman issued an unsafe building/cease and desist order to Sumant L. Patel of N Holdings, LLC that illegal occupancy changes had been made in the property and it had inadequate exits for the capacity of the venue. There appears to be nothing unusual about this.

What is unusual is why anyone would pay to hear folk music and why on earth anyone would want to hear folk music performed by John Hinckley murder some notes on Easter weekend and the anniversary of his attempt to assassinate one of the nation’s greatest presidents.

Published March 25, 2024.