White House Shooting

Written by Nina Spitofsky, Staff Writer

On November 11, a shooting occurred on the grounds of the White House. Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, from Boise, Idaho, was the man accused of firing the assault rifle that endangered the inhabitants of the White House.

The week following the shooting, Ortega-Hernandez was officially charged with attempting to assassinate the president or a member of his staff. He is accused of firing nine bullets, one of which cracked a window of the first family’s living quarters. Obama and the first lady were away during the time of the shooting, and it is unclear whether the president’s daughters, Sasha and Malia, were in the residence at the time.

According to court documents, Ortega-Hernandez thinks that he is Jesus Christ and President Obama is the Antichrist. He claims he was “on a mission from God” to assassinate the president. According to the Associated Press, Ortega along with many other conspirators believes the world will end in 2012. Maria Hernandez, Ortega-Hernandez’s mother, told the Idaho Falls, Post Register that her son has not been diagnosed with any mental illnesses.
Shortly after the shooting, authorities found nine spent shell casings and an assault rifle in Ortega’s car, which was discovered a short distance away from the White House.
Ortega-Hernandez recently made his first appearance in a court in Pennsylvania. He was reported to have been quiet during the hearing and only spoke to affirm the judge when he asked Ortega if he understood the proceedings against him.

On Monday, November 28, it was initially decided that Ortega was psychologically stable enough to attend the next court hearing. This decision, however, was based on a fifty-minute psychiatric evaluation done by psychologist, Elizabeth Teagarden. The Associated Press reported that a federal judge granted a defense request to delay Ortega’s preliminary hearing to give attorneys time to dispute whether or not a complete psychiatric screening is necessary “given the serious nature of the criminal charges pending against the defendant and the likelihood that mental health issues may arise in the course of these proceedings.”

Ortega was schedule to appear in court on December 12, and will continue to be held without bail. Ortega-Hernandez’s assassination charge carries a minimum penalty of life in prison.
This incident is unfortunately not the first time the White House has come under attack. In the last forty years, the residence has faced threats varying from a stolen helicopter that landed on the grounds in 1974 to a man who possessed a sawed-off shotgun on a sidewalk, outside in 1984. There were five threats to the landmark in 1994, alone.