An Idaho man suspected of firing an assault rifle near the White House has been charged with attempting to assassinate President Obama.
Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, 21, had his first appearance in federal court in Pittsburgh on Thursday, a day after he was captured in a hotel in western Pennsylvania. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted.
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Federal agents said Ortega-Hernandez had become increasingly agitated with the federal government and was convinced that authorities were conspiring against him.
Witnesses told investigators that Ortega-Hernandez wanted to “hurt” Obama and referred to the president as “the anti-Christ” and “the devil,” according to an affidavit signed by an FBI agent.
Monte McCall, a computer consultant in Idaho Falls, told the Associated Press that Ortega-Hernandez showed him handwritten notes for a 30-minute infomercial and predicted that the world would end in 2012.
“He said, ‘Well, you know the president is getting ready to make an announcement that they’re going to put GPS chips in all the children,'” McCall told the AP. “… And then he said, ‘That’s just what the anti-Christ is going to do to mark everybody.'”
Ortega-Hernandez arrived in D.C. several weeks ago. His family reported him missing Oct. 31.
About 9 p.m. last Friday, Ortega-Hernandez drove his black 1998 Honda Accord between the White House and the Washington Monument, and fired a semiautomatic rifle through the passenger window, authorities said.
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Bullets struck the south side of the executive mansion, police said. A bullet hole was discovered in a window on the Truman Balcony, which looks into the heart of the first family’s living quarters. The president and first lady were not home at the time.
Ortega-Hernandez sped away and drove the car onto the lawn of the National Institute of Peace near the ramp of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, police said. He failed to restart the car, then fled on foot.
Inside the car, police found the gun — a Romanian Cugir SA mounted with a large scope — along with ammunition, brass knuckles and a baseball bat.
Hours before the shooting, Arlington County police stopped Ortega-Hernandez after getting a call about a “suspicious person.” Police asked to search his vehicle, but he refused, charging documents revealed.
They took his photograph, then let him go.
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