A 21-year-old man who called President Barack Obama the devil and anti-christ was charged on Thursday with trying to assassinate the US leader by opening fire on the White House with an assault rifle.
Obama and his wife were not in Washington at the time of the shooting on Friday night and thankfully no one was hurt.
Oscar Ortega-Hernandez of Idaho Falls, Idaho, appeared before a Federal Magisterial Judge in Pittsburgh, who ordered to transfer him to Washington. He was later on arrested on Wednesday at a hotel near Indiana, Pennsylvania.
No one was hurt in the shooting which took place on Friday night. The secret services revealed that but one bullet broke a White House window but was stopped by protective ballistic glass, and the other round struck the exterior of the building.
A witness reported seeing the occupant of a black car shooting at the White House and ran away, while another witness reported of hearing eight popping noises from a dark car that sped away.
According to the court papers a Honda Accord with Idaho license plates was found abandoned near-by with a semi-automatic rifle with a large scope as well as three loaded magazines of grenades, nine spent shell casings, an aluminium baseball bat and brass knuckles.
FBI investigators who weathered the White House grounds on Wednesday found several bullet impacts on the south side of the executive mansion on the second story or above. The President's family qaurters are on those upper floors.
Assistant US Attorney James Kitchen said at the court hearing that Ortega-Hernandez was charged with attempted assassination of the President. If convicted, he faces upto life in
He appeared in the court wearing a white jumpsuit and said nothing except 'yes maam', when asked by Judge Cynthia Eddy if he understood the charges against him.
According to the FBI affidavit, a witness who knows Ortega-Fernandez very well said he had become increasingly agitated against the government.
The witness said that he had been preparing for something.
The affidavit also said that earlier on November 11, police in Arlington, Virginia had responded to a report of a suspicious person who identified himself as Ortega-Fernandez.
News reported by AR for Newsvision
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