Shooter Charged With Attempting to Assassinate Obama

[Ritterin Sophia]

Link

Pittsburgh (CNN) -- An Idaho man who acquaintances say called President Barack Obama "the anti-Christ" was charged Thursday with trying to assassinate him in a shooting incident outside the White House, federal authorities said.

Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, 21, is accused of firing shots at the White House on Friday, including some that hit the building near the residence area where Obama and his family live, according to a complaint document made public after the suspect's initial court hearing Thursday.

One witness described to investigators hearing about "eight sounds of popping noise" and seeing "puffs of air" from a car on Constitution Avenue near the White House, an FBI agent's sworn statement said.

Read the complain against Ortega-Hernandez (PDF)

One bullet hit a window and was stopped by bulletproof glass, and another was found on the White House exterior, the Secret Service said.

Investigators found a semi-automatic rifle, several boxes of ammunition and nine spent shell casings in a car owned by Ortega-Hernandez that was parked several blocks away on the lawn of the National Institute of Peace, the agent's affidavit said.

Ortega-Hernandez was charged with attempted assassination, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jimmy Kitchen said Thursday at the suspect's initial court hearing in Pittsburgh. The charge carries a possible maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

At the brief hearing, Ortega-Hernandez spoke once, answering "yes, ma'am" when Magistrate Cynthia Eddy asked if he understood what his federal defender had said on his behalf.

Eddy agreed with a prosecution request for Ortega-Hernandez to remain in custody. Ortega-Hernandez agreed to be extradited to the District of Columbia, and the federal defender, Christopher Brown, said the defendant reserved his right for a detention and preliminary hearing after the transfer.

The government agreed not to formally indict Ortega-Hernandez until after his transfer, Brown said. It was not immediately clear when the transfer would occur, but it was expected in coming days.

With long, tangled hair and a beard, Ortega-Hernandez wore a white jumpsuit and was handcuffed with legs chained when entering the courtroom guarded by U.S. marshals.

Guards removed the handcuffs for the hearing, but the leg chains remained on as he sat down.

The complaint document said that on the night of November 11, two witnesses saw shots fired toward the White House through the window of a car on Constitution Avenue. The car's Idaho plates registered to Ortega-Hernandez.

Another witness saw a man run away from the same vehicle a few blocks away, the complaint document said. From the vehicle, police recovered a rifle of the same caliber as recovered shells from the White House grounds, it said.

A law enforcement official told CNN on Thursday that a trace of the weapon did not show Ortega-Hernandez as the purchaser.

The official, who was not authorized to speak about the ongoing investigation, provided no further information on the weapon's purchase.

According to three acquaintances cited in the complaint document, Ortega-Hernandez considered Obama the cause of his problems and referred to him at times as the "anti-Christ" and the devil.

One witness -- identified only as "W-4" -- told investigators that Ortega-Hernandez "has increasingly become more agitated against the federal government, and is convinced that the federal government is conspiring against him," the FBI agent's affidavit said.

He "wanted to 'hurt' President Obama and referred to him as 'the anti-Christ,'" the witness said.

Another witness -- identified as "W-6" -- also quoted Ortega-Hernandez calling Obama "the anti-Christ." This witness told agents Ortega-Hernandez told him he "needed to kill him."

A third witness, known as "W-7," told investigators Ortega-Hernandez owned an "AK-47 like gun." His "opinions and comments regarding the government and President Obama have gotten worse" over the past year, the witness told agents.

"W-7 stated that Ortega-Hernandez believed President Obama is 'the devil,' and that Ortega-Hernandez 'will not stop until it's done.'" the affidavit said. "W-7 also reported that Ortega-Hernandez stated President Obama 'needed to be taken care of.'"

Lt. Brad Shields of the Pennsylvania State Police said Ortega-Hernandez was arrested Wednesday in western Pennsylvania under a U.S. Park Police warrant issued Sunday in Washington "based on a shooting that occurred at the White House on November 11."

According to Shields, a tip came in Wednesday that the man sought by federal authorities in the Washington shooting was at a Hampton Inn in the town of Indiana, Pennsylvania.

Ortega-Hernandez had stayed at the hotel with another person for a few days before the Friday shooting incident, Shields said.

When Ortega-Hernandez returned to the hotel on Wednesday, staff members recognized him from a photo provided by authorities and notified police, Shields said.

Ortega-Hernandez was arrested without any resistance in the hotel lobby, asking why he was being detained, Shields said. A bag of his was checked by sniffer dogs, but no weapons were found, according to Shields.

The suspect apparently had returned to the hotel to locate what Shields called "his friend," and Shields said the suspect's companion was not from the area. He provided no further details of the companion's identity or whereabouts.

In Idaho Falls, Idaho, police spokeswoman Joelyn Hansen said the man -- identified there as Oscar Ramiro Ortega -- was reported missing October 31. Hansen said Ortega is the same man who the Secret Service is calling Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez.

The bullets were found on the south side of the White House, a Secret Service official not authorized to speak on the record told CNN.

"A round was stopped by ballistic glass behind the historic exterior glass," a Secret Service statement said. "One additional round has been found on the exterior of the White House. This damage has not been conclusively connected to Friday's incident, and an assessment of the exterior of the White House is ongoing,".

On Friday about 9 p.m., U.S. Park Police and the Secret Service investigated after hearing shots fired about 700 to 800 yards from the White House, the Secret Service statement said.

Within five minutes, officers located a vehicle in the 2300 block of Constitution Avenue, according to the statement.

The FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Metropolitan Police Department all took part in the search for Ortega-Hernandez, officials said.

Just thought someone here might be interested.

[Shroom Man 777]

No doubt a liberal false flag operation to let those demonrat fuckers introduce more anti-gun registration laws to change the constitution's wordings from 'front legs' into 'arms' and thus bring about the big government's systemic genocidal amputation via FEMADRASSA of all of America's domesticated bear population.

On a more serious note, what about those counter-snipers hanging on top of the White House? What is their ROE and why didn't they engage the gunman?

[Ritterin Sophia]

The guy was outside the outer perimeter of the White House, not close enough to do anything except hope the windows aren't bullet-proof. And the Obamas aren't actually in the country right now, which is why initially the authorities thought it was rival gangs shooting each other as they drove by one another.

[Mr Bean]

So shooting at the White House even when the President is not in country counts as trying to kill the president? I'm guessing it's a simple issue of them trying to get as much jail time as possible for the guy and if he has a competent defender he will be found not guilty on sanity grounds and tossed in for treatment until he's better or President Obama dies of old age. Had this guy been serious and sane enough to attempt to assassinate the President I'm guessing his plan would have been a bit more detailed then "drive by the whitehouse and shoot at it" The presence of bullet proof glass and White House layout are public knowledge for anyone to spend five minutes googling to find.

[Sea Skimmer]

The fact that a plan is bad and won't really work doesn't count for anything when you already went and carried it out with deadly force; it might be relevant if he was caught in planning. Also the guy is being charged with targeting Obama and his staff some of whom were certainly inside the white house.

[Iroscato]

This has to rank in the top 10 weakest assassination attempts of all time. Trying to assassinate a man when he isn't actually in the country? Slick.
And Shroom, did you get that little monologue from Family Guy?

[Ziggy Stardust]

The local papers here in northern Virginia have more details about him. His mother claims he has no history of mental illness. His father told one paper that he was disturbed, and thought the world was going to end on November 11, 2011 (the day of the shooting, if you weren't paying attention). He also, apparently, has a wife and a young child, but I can't seem to find a reference to that online.

The New York Times article on the subject says,

Mr. Ortega-Hernandez has had legal problems in Idaho, Texas, and Utah, including charges related to drug offenses, resisting arrest and assault on a police officer, officials have said. He is said to be heavily tattooed, with the word “Israel” on his neck and pictures of rosary beads and hands clasped in prayer on his chest.

They have also uncovered a video he paid a random stranger to film of him. During which, among other things, he refers to himself as "the modern day Jesus Christ that you all have been waiting for." He also says something about Nostradamus sending him a message through time.

[Broomstick]

This has to rank in the top 10 weakest assassination attempts of all time. Trying to assassinate a man when he isn't actually in the country? Slick.

Not the first time - back in the Clinton years some nutjob crashed a small Cessna into the White House when the President was absent. Or maybe he actually hit a tree before he hit the building. In any case, he was dead, the airplane crumpled like an empty pop can, and no doubt WH security underwent a revision or two.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Some pretty stupid stuff has happened at the White House. There was the 1974 helicopter incident (though that wasn't an assassination attempt, it was a disgruntled soldier trying to show off). In 1984, there was David Mahonski, who despite previous warnings form the Secret Service to stay away from the White House due to threats against Reagan, pulled a sawed-off shotgun out of his coat in front of the White House (and was promptly shot in the arm and arrested). In 1994, we had Frank Corder crashing the Cessna into the south lawn after smoking crack. Also in 1994 a homeless man charged the White House with a knife.

[tim31]

I liked this one:

A well-dressed man walked through the White House front door. Police allowed him to pass, assuming he was a Secret Service agent. The curious sightseer entered the dining room and interrupted President Herbert Hoover's dinner before an agent stopped him.

[FSTargetDrone]

Some pretty stupid stuff has happened at the White House. There was the 1974 helicopter incident (though that wasn't an assassination attempt, it was a disgruntled soldier trying to show off). In 1984, there was David Mahonski, who despite previous warnings form the Secret Service to stay away from the White House due to threats against Reagan, pulled a sawed-off shotgun out of his coat in front of the White House (and was promptly shot in the arm and arrested). In 1994, we had Frank Corder crashing the Cessna into the south lawn after smoking crack. Also in 1994 a homeless man charged the White House with a knife.

One of those mentioned at the link, Franciso Martin Duran, in 1994, fired at the building while Clinton was inside:



(Note the unattended baby stroller that rolls into view--I guess one of the tacklers was Dad!)

[Purple]

Is it just me or does that shooter look like a cross betwen a Catholic priest and a Jedi knight?