There had been a shooting in Washington DC near White House. Gunfire had been reported about 9p.m Friday 11 November 2011. However, the damage was discovered on the following Tuesday. One bullet struck a window in the living quarters of the White House and another was found it the exterior of the building. According to eye witness, a man pulled his car within view of the White House on Friday night and fired shots from an assault rifle, cracking a window of first family’s living quarters while the president was away.
A 21-year-old man named Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, was charged on Wednesday with attempting to assassinate President Obama. He called President Obama “the anti-Christ” and told federal agents he wanted to hurt the president according to court documents. Some people from his home state Idaho also witnessed that Ortega had become agitated against the federal government and was convinced there was a government conspiracy against him. Another witness also said that Ortega owns an assault weapon with a scope.
Ortega the suspect blamed President Obama for problems with the federal government and believed Obama is devil. If convicted, Ortega could life in prison. The last White House shooting occurred in 1994, when Francisco Martin Duran began firing a semiautomatic rifle. He still is severing a 40-year prison sentence for that incident.
I am not sure if it was attempted assassination or just some idiot trying to express his displeasure towards president or the federal government. If Ortega’s plan was to kill president, it should have required more detail, thought, planning, or at least understanding that the president was thousands miles away on a trip to the Asia-Pacific region. The news article also mentioned that Ortega believed that he is on a mission from God to kill President Obama. People might think the charges are over-hyped because the president was not even there, but if convicted, it still is an attempted assassination. This case should be taken seriously I think.
I think the crime this guy committed was done more out of desperation than a premeditated assasination attempt. In this current economy people are already stressed out with the daily struggle to survive, and they look for ways to vent. Clearly this guy reached his limit. That, coupled with his mental instability probably, led him to commit this crime. In addition, targeting the White House, in plain sight with an assault rifle does not seem to have the makings of a true assassin... but it is a way to get national attention.
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