Obama wasn't even in Washington D.C. when the bullet that hit the White House was allegedly fired by this guy. How can the morons at the Secret Service possibly accuse the guy of attempting to assassinate the President.
I guess the Secret Service is a master of making mountains out of molehills. Of course it is not about protecting the President, it's about creating jobs for overpaid, under worked Secret Service cops.
I think H. L. Mencken says it best with his quote:
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.""Prosecutors say they're considering charges of attempted assassination, even though the incident presented no threat to the president"
Idaho man charged with trying to assassinate Obama
Originally published: November 16, 2011 10:24 PM
By The Associated Press JOE MANDAK (Associated Press)
PITTSBURGH - (AP) -- An Idaho man accused of firing an assault rifle at the White House was charged Thursday with attempting to assassinate President Barack Obama or his staff, and prosecutors say he called Obama "the devil" and said he needed to be killed.
Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, of Idaho Falls, made his first court appearance before a federal magistrate in Pittsburgh on Thursday, one day after he was arrested at a western Pennsylvania hotel.
According to a court document released after the hearing, authorities recovered nine spent shell casings from Ortega's car, which was abandoned near the White House. A person who knows him subsequently told investigators that he had become increasingly agitated with the federal government and was convinced it was conspiring against him, the document said. Others told investigators that Ortega had said Obama was "the anti-Christ" and the "devil." Ortega also reportedly said he "needed to kill" the president.
If convicted, Ortega faces up to life in prison.
Ortega's public defender, Christopher Brown, declined comment after the hearing.
He will be taken back from a federal court in Pittsburgh to face the charges in Washington, D.C. and will remain in federal custody at least until a magistrate in Washington can determine if he should remain jailed until his trial on the charge.
Ortega sat quietly as the hearing began, his hands free but his feet shackled. The 21-year-old said only, "Yes, ma'am" when he was asked if he understood that he would be going back to Washington to face the charge.
Authorities said a man clad in black who was obsessed with Obama pulled his car within view of the White House on Friday night and fired shots from an assault rifle, cracking a window of the first family's living quarters while the president was away.
Soon after, U.S. Park Police found an abandoned vehicle, with an assault rifle inside it, near a bridge leading out of the nation's capital to Virginia. The car led investigators to Ortega.
The FBI took custody of Ortega's car Thursday afternoon to continue the process of reviewing evidence, said Lindsay Godwin, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Washington field office.
Ortega was arrested Wednesday afternoon at a hotel near Indiana, Pa., about 55 miles east of Pittsburgh, after a desk clerk recognized his picture. He had been reported missing Oct. 31 by his family.
Man arrested in White House shooting probe
By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 7:06 AM EST, Thu November 17, 2011
Washington (CNN) -- An Idaho man wanted in connection with a White House shooting incident was arrested Wednesday in western Pennsylvania, police and the U.S. Secret Service announced.
Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, who was detained by Pennsylvania State Police, was allegedly involved in a shooting Friday night that may be responsible for two bullets found at the White House, according to the Secret Service.
One bullet hit a window and was stopped by bulletproof glass, and another was found on the White House exterior, the Secret Service said. Both bullets were found Tuesday.
Ortega-Hernandez is to appear in federal court in Pittsburgh at 2 p.m. Thursday, according to the Justice Department.
White House shooter suspect in custody
Lt. Brad Shields of the Pennsylvania State Police identified the arrested man as Oscar Ortega-Hernandez, 21, originally from Idaho. Ortega-Hernandez was being questioned by federal authorities, Shields said at a news conference.
Ortega-Hernandez was arrested under a U.S. Park Police warrant issued Sunday in Washington "based on a shooting that occurred at the White House on November 11," Shields said.
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 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 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 that 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,".
Last Friday night around 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.
"Evidence in the vehicle led to U.S. Park Police obtaining an arrest warrant for Oscar Ortega-Hernandez," described as a 21-year-old Hispanic male, 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds, the Secret Service statement said.
A weapon registered to Ortega-Hernandez was found in the car, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation.
The Secret Service interviewed people who know Ortega-Hernandez, and determined he had a "direction of interest toward the president and the White House" -- a term that does not suggest a direct specific threat.
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.
"There's always an outer perimeter and this was on the very outer perimeter of our security," the Secret Service official said. "The gun and car were found within several minutes. We have a lot of security -- a lot of layered security down there, and the security worked."
A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said when the shots were heard Friday night, there were reports of tires screeching and cars racing.
White House gun suspect obsessed with Obama
WASHINGTON - A man clad in black who was obsessed with President Barack Obama pulled his car within view of the White House at night and fired shots from an assault rifle, cracking a window of the first family's living quarters while the president was away, authorities said about their still-developing investigation.
The U.S. Secret Service found two bullets had hit the White House and agents caught up with Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez in Pennsylvania on Wednesday after a four-day search. Police arrested the 21-year-old Idaho man at a hotel after a desk clerk recognized his picture. Ortega was scheduled to make his first appearance at 2 p.m. Thursday in federal court in Pittsburgh and many questions remained about his motive and background.
Sources tell CBS News Ortega-Hernandez was not on the radar of the Secret Service before Friday's shooting. But investigators believe he may have targeted the White House due to a hatred of President Obama. Businessman Monte McCall, said Ortega-Hernandez compared the president to the "Antichrist" when they met recently.
"He seemed very sincere in what he believed but seemed rather troubled," McCall said.
Bullet hits White House window; Suspect sought
Police probe possible shots fired near W.H.
Authorities are investigating the man's mental health and say there are indications he believed attacking the White House was part of a personal mission from God, according to two different law enforcement officials who spoke with The Associated Press. There are also indications the man had become obsessed with Mr. Obama and the White House, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Shots were fired at the building Friday night. Agents discovered Tuesday that one of the two bullets hit the exterior and a second cracked a window on the second floor residential level, just behind the rounded portico visible from the south side of the White House.
That bullet was stopped by protective ballistic glass. The window that was hit is in front of the so-called Yellow Oval Room, which is in the middle of the family's living quarters.
CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports ballistics tests are being run to match the bullets found at the White House with the rifle. Prosecutors say they're considering charges of attempted assassination, even though the incident presented no threat to the president.
Mr. Obama and his wife Michelle were on a trip to California and Hawaii at the time of the shooting. The president has since traveled on to Australia on a nine-day Asia-Pacific tour. The Obamas were in California without daughters Malia and Sasha, but the White House had no immediate comment on the shooting or who may have been home at the time.
Investigators believe Ortega fired the rifle from his vehicle Friday, according to an official with knowledge of the investigation. Gunshots were reported that night on Constitution Avenue about 9:30 p.m. Soon after, U.S. Park Police found an abandoned vehicle, the assault rifle inside it, near a bridge leading out of the nation's capital to Virginia. The car led investigators to Ortega, and they obtained a warrant for his arrest Sunday, officials said.
This is not the first time the White House has come under attack.
In the last 40 years, the landmark has faced threats ranging from a stolen helicopter that landed on the grounds in 1974 to a man who wielded a sawed-off shotgun on a sidewalk outside in 1984. In 1994 alone, there were five threats including a plane crash on the lawn and a suspected drive-by shooting. Another man fired at least 29 rounds from a semiautomatic weapon, with 11 striking the White House.
Dan Bongino is a former Secret Service agent who served on the presidential details for Mr. Obama and President George W. Bush. He said Friday's shooting would likely mean tighter security and coordination.
"They do an exhaustive review of their security procedures every time something like this happens," he said. "Nothing ever works perfectly. They will undress this completely and then they will find out when they rebuild the incident exactly what they could have done better."
Bongino, who recently left the Secret Service to run for U.S. Senate in Maryland, said it was doubtful that a gunman could strike a target such as the White House from a moving car at the distance investigators suspect he shot. It would require "an incredible amount of training to pull that off," he said, suggesting it was more likely Ortega stopped his car to fire.
An official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing said Ortega used a knockoff of an AK-47. Late Wednesday, however, authorities had not conclusively linked his gun to the rounds found at the White House.
In the days after the gunfire, police distributed photos of Ortega. He had been stopped and questioned Friday morning just across the Potomac River from Washington in Arlington, Va. Arlington police said they stopped him after a report of suspicious behavior but released him after photographing him because they had no reason to make an arrest at that time.
Subsequently, a U.S. Park Police crime bulletin said he was known to have mental health issues.
"Ortega should be considered unstable with violent tendencies," the bulletin stated.
Ortega was arrested Wednesday afternoon without putting up resistance at a hotel near Indiana, Pa., about 55 miles east of Pittsburgh, the Secret Service said. He was in Pennsylvania State Police custody.
State troopers said Ortega had visited the hotel in recent days, and investigators believed he was back in the area Wednesday. The Secret Service passed out photographs and a desk clerk recognized his picture and stalled him while notifying police.
Ortega is from Idaho Falls, Idaho, and was reported missing Oct. 31 by his family. A message left for Ortega's mother Wednesday at an Idaho Falls restaurant where she works was not returned. Phone listings for family members in the city were disconnected.
Ortega has an arrest record in three states but has not been linked to any radical organizations, U.S. Park Police have said.