Chris Plante had an eventful career at CNN spanning almost two decades, during which he was given numerous intriguing assignments.
On Wednesday, Plante, a WMAL Radio host, reminisced about one of the most unforgettable assignments he received from the network, which involved attempting to interview John Hinckley, the man convicted of trying to assassinate President Ronald Reagan.
“There was a story in The Washington Post that John Hinckley was being allowed to roam free on the grounds of St. Elizabeth’s Mental Institution where he was being held,” Plante said. “It was a very large walled complex which the Department of Homeland Security has since taken over.”
According to Plante, he and his camera crew were sent to the hospital, and surprisingly, security allowed them to enter the grounds without any explanation.
“Then we went to the building where I knew John Hinckley was being held,” he said. “I went with the camera crew to the front door of the building, and I told the crew, ‘Let’s see how far we can go’. I walk up to the front, and security sees us on the camera; they buzz the door, and we walk in. Then we walked to the inner part, and the door opened, and they waive us in, and we’re walking in.”
Plante informed security that he wanted to see John Hinckley, even though he didn’t have an appointment. After a short wait, a staff member approached Plante and his crew and inquired if they were the HBO crew.
“I said, ‘No, we are with CNN’, and they said ‘Security!’ They said we weren’t authorized to be in there. We were just waived in, the doors kept opening, and we kept walking. We were chased out of the place and sent packing back to the van, and then security came in and escorted us off the grounds.”
