Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, the man arrested on Wednesday for allegedly firing bullets at the White House on Friday night, referred to President Barack Obama as “the anti-Christ” and told a witness he “needed to kill him,” according to an FBI special agent.
Ortega-Hernandez has been charged with attempting to assassinate Obama, though the president was not in the White House at the time of the incident. He had metal baseball bat, brass knuckles, a Wal-Mart receipt and a black hooded Los Angeles Dodgers jacket in the car he abandoned after allegedly firing at least two shots at the White House.
The suspect, who has the word “Israel” tattooed on his neck, left a Romanian Cugir SA semi-automatic assault riffle with a large scope and several boxes of ammunition in his car.
A friend who spoke with agents said that Ortega-Hernandez was increasingly concerned about the federal government and thought the government was conspiring against him. He was allegeldy very specific that President Obama was the problem with the government.
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
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