- Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez
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Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez (born 1990) is charged in the attempted assassination [1] of President of the United States Barack Obama on November 11, 2011. According to the charge, Ortega-Hernandez, who is from Idaho Falls, Idaho, fired two rounds from a semi-automatic rifle which hit the White House. On November 17, 2011 he was charged with attempting to assassinate the president.[1] It is the first White House shooting since Francisco Martin Duran attempted to assassinate U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1994.[1]
Ortega was arrested on November 16, 2011 at a hotel in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and arraigned on November 17, 2011.[2][1]
Contents
Background
In a video released shortly after his arrest, Ortega-Hernandez claimed to have previously been involved in Right-wing activity. He disappeared from his home in Idaho Falls in October 2011, and his family reported him missing "around Halloween."[3]
Shooting
On Friday, November 11, 2011, gunfire was reported coming from the direction of the The Ellipse and Washington Monument. A suspicious black Honda Accord[1] was then seen speeding away from the scene, eventually abandoned at the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge as the driver was witnessed crossing into Virginia on foot. One of the bullets smashed the exterior window of the Yellow Oval Room of the White House, and another was found on November 15, 2011 on south side. Evidence recovered from the abandoned vehicle was later linked to Ortega-Hernandez.[1] On November 17, 2011, he was charged with attempting to assassinate U.S. President Barack Obama.[1] He reportedly was sighted at the Occupy Washington D.C. encampment at McPherson Park at one point,[4] but an investigation found no connection between Ortega-Hernandez and Occupy D.C.[5]
Ortega has a prior record, including drug charges, resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer, and alcohol-related charges from Texas, Utah, and Idaho.[1]
Mental illness
The police have speculated that Ortega-Hernandez is mentally ill. E. Fuller Torrey, the founder of the Treatment Advocacy Center in Arlington, Virginia, told The New York Times that he suspects that Ortega-Hernandez is suffering from "a textbook case" of schizophrenia.[6]
Ortega-Hernandez's father told Telemundo that his son was obsessed with the apocalypse and had believed that November 11, 2011 -- the day of the shooting -- would be the day of the world would end.[7] Other witnesses claimed that Ortega-Hernandez believed President Obama to be the Antichrist and the Devil, and had expressed a desire to kill him.[8] A year before the shooting, Ortega-Hernandez reportedly viewed the Alex Jones documentary The Obama Deception, which claims that President Obama is involved in a New World Order conspiracy.[9]
On November 18, Idaho television station KBOI released a video featuring Ortega-Hernandez, allegedly intended for submission to The Oprah Winfrey Show. In the video, Ortega-Hernandez, wearing a crucifix, claimed to be "the modern day Jesus Christ that you all have been waiting for," and that "I have never felt so sure that I was sent here by God to lead the world to Zion." The video was shot by an Idaho State University student named Ramon Bailey, who found Ortega-Hernandez's comments so disturbing that he never edited or submitted the video.[10]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "In Gunshots, a Trail of Threats Is Reported", Charlie Savage. New York Times. November 17, 2011. Accessed November 17, 2011
- ^ "'Disturbed' gunman arrested in Pennsylvania days after bullet hits window of the White House residence", Daily Mail. November 16, 2011. Accessed November 16, 2011
- ^ "Suspected White House gunman obsessed with Obama, family says." Los Angeles Times, November 18, 2011.
- ^ "Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez Arrested: Alleged White House Shooter In Custody In Pennsylvania", Huffington Post. November 16, 2011. Accessed November 16, 2011
- ^ White House shooting suspect arrested in Pa., Washington Post, November 16, 2011.
- ^ White House Shooting Suspect’s Path to Extremism, The New York Times, November 20, 2011
- ^ White House Shooting Suspect Had Idaho Arrest Record, End-Of-World Theories
- ^ White House shooting suspect thought himself Jesus, Obama antichrist, Detroit Free Press, November 18, 2011
- ^ White House Shooting Suspect’s Path to Extremism, The New York Times, November 20, 2011
- ^ “I am the modern day Jesus,” rants Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, Idaho wacko charged with bid to kill Obama, New York Daily News, November 18, 2011
Categories:- 1990 births
- Living people
- Terrorist incidents in the United States in 2011
- Failed assassins of United States presidents
- People from Idaho Falls, Idaho
- White House intruders
- Apocalypticists
- American people of Mexican descent
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