2011 White House shooting

2011 White House Shooting
Evidence of the shooting was first found on the Truman Balcony (second floor)
Location	White House, Washington, D.C., United States
Coordinates	38.892116°N 77.036529°W / 38.892116; -77.036529
Date	November 11, 2011 (2011-11-11) Approximately 2100 (UTC-5)
Target	President Barack Obama
Attack type	Shooting
Weapons	Semi-automatic rifle
Deaths	0
Non-fatal injuries	0
Assailant	Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez

On November 11, 2011, Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, an unemployed 21-year-old man who was obsessed with President Barack Obama, fired a semi-automatic rifle at the White House. At least seven bullets hit the second floor, though nobody was injured. In September 2013 Ortega-Hernandez pleaded guilty to one count of destruction of property and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. In March 2014 he was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment. In September 2014 The Washington Post published an article detailing errors the United States Secret Service made on the night of the attack, which led to the crime not being discovered for four days. It was the first shooting at the White House since Francisco Martin Duran's attempted assassination of President Bill Clinton in 1994.

Background

Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, an unemployed 21-year-old man, left his home in Idaho Falls, Idaho, three weeks prior to the shooting. He told friends and family he was going to Utah for a business trip; his family reported him missing on October 31 after he failed to return. According to friends, before leaving Ortega-Hernandez had become increasingly paranoid, ranting about how the United States government was controlling citizens and how Obama "had to be stopped". The mother of Ortega-Hernandez's former fiancée stated that he had been well-mannered for the four years she had known him, but had recently began making bizarre statements. On July 8 he told an acquaintance that President Obama was planning to put GPS tracking devices into children, and that the world would end in 2012. Ortega-Hernandez had a 2-year-old son with his former fiancée; it is unknown when he separated from his fiancée or for what reasons. Ortega-Hernandez arrived in Washington on November 9, with a Romanian-made Cugir semiautomatic rifle he purchased from a gun-shop in Idaho, and 180 rounds of ammunition. Police questioned him the morning of the shooting after someone made a report of suspicious behavior. Ortega-Hernandez refused to let police search his car. After photographing him, police officers let him go as they had no cause to make an arrest.

Shooting and response

An aerial view of the White House, showing the Constitution Avenue intersection at the bottom right, from where the shots were fired

Ortega-Hernandez parked his vehicle directly south of the White House, on Constitution Avenue. He aimed his semi-automatic rifle from the car's passenger seat and opened fire. Gunfire was reported at around 9pm. One bullet smashed an outside antique window on the White House's second floor near the first family’s formal living room, though it did not penetrate the bulletproof glass on the inside. One became lodged in a window frame and others ricocheted off the roof, causing small pieces of wood and concrete to fall to the ground. At least seven bullets struck the second floor, causing $97,000 worth of damage. President Obama, his wife Michelle, and their first daughter Malia were not home at the time of the shooting, but their second daughter Sasha and Michelle's mother Marian Shields Robinson were; Malia had been expected to return home at any moment when the shooting occurred.

Secret Service agents initially rushed to respond; snipers scanned the South Lawn looking for an assailant. A supervisor, who believed the noises were backfires from a nearby construction site, gave the order "No shots have been fired. ... Stand down", to the surprise of several officers. Agents who thought the building had been shot "were largely ignored", with some reporting being afraid to doubt their superior's assertion. By the end of the night it was confirmed a shooting had occurred, though the Secret Service incorrectly believed gunfire was not aimed at the White House but rather was the result of a gang-fight nearby. A Secret Service dispatcher called 911 and gave incorrect descriptions of both vehicles and suspects; police were told to look for two black men who were on Rock Creek Parkway. The Secret Service did not realize for four days that bullets had struck the White House. It was only confirmed after a housekeeper noticed broken glass and pieces of cement on the Truman Balcony around midday on November 15.

Mark J. Sullivan, then Director of the Secret Service, was summoned to a meeting with the first lady regarding the shooting.

President Obama was still travelling when the discovery was made, though Michelle Obama had returned to the White House on the morning of November 15, going to sleep shortly after arriving. An usher went to check on her later that day, and began talking to her about the shooting, assuming she already knew about the incident. The first lady was said to be furious, wondering why the director of the Secret Service, Mark J. Sullivan, who had accompanied her on her flight back to Washington, had not told her about it. Sullivan was subsequently summoned to a meeting with the first lady, during which she was reported to have raised her voice so loudly she could be heard through the closed door. Sullivan disputes this report, though he declined to give any details regarding the conversation. A detailed inspection of the White House for evidence or damage, and interviewing of key witnesses, only began later that afternoon. President Obama was also said to be furious over both the flawed response and the failure to notify the first lady. According to one presidential aide, when Obama returned from his visit to Australia and Indonesia five days later "the shit really hit the fan".

The Washington Post released a detailed report in September 2014 describing the details of the Secret Service's "bungled" response following the shooting. The Secret Service responded to the criticism against them, stating that the shots that struck the White House were fired from a quarter-mile away, which resulted in echoes obfuscating their origin, and that initial witness accounts had stated the shots were fired from a black vehicle at another vehicle. A Secret Service agent who asked to remain anonymous stated "I'm not saying this was our shining moment, but we never stopped looking for [the gunman]". A former Secret Service agent stated that the agency needed to change its ways in order to prevent "complacency" and stop future attacks.

When you say complacency, it means when you get used to nothing ever happening typically, when something does happen you fail to connect those dots properly.

—Former Secret Service agent Evy Poumpouras

As a direct result of the attack additional security measures, including both personnel and physical changes, as well as the installation of additional surveillance cameras, were implemented at the White House.

Arrest and trial

Ortega-Hernandez's arrest was described by Carol D. Leonnig of the Washington Post as "sheer luck". He crashed the black 1998 Honda Accord, registered in his name, several blocks from the White House shortly after the shooting. He left his firearm inside the vehicle, along with three loaded magazines, nine spent shell casings and brass knuckles. On November 13 United States Park Police obtained a warrant for Ortega-Hernandez's arrest on weapons charges in regards to his abandoned rifle, though he was not suspected of shooting the White House at that time. Around the same time, Secret Service agents learned from his friends and family that he was obsessed with President Obama, and began canvassing Washington in an attempt to find him. Once the evidence of the damage to the White House was uncovered on November 15, Ortega-Hernandez became the prime suspect for an assassination attempt on the President. Ortega-Hernandez was arrested on November 16 in a hotel in Indiana, Pennsylvania, after an employee there recognised him and contacted police. Despite Obama not being present at the White House at the time of the shooting, federal prosecutors launched an investigation to determine if Hernandez acted out of hatred for Obama. Subsequently, writings by Ortega-Hernandez and testimony from those who knew him showed that he believed he was Jesus and that President Obama was the antichrist and the devil. Ortega-Hernandez was not found to be affiliated with any extremist groups. In September 2013, Ortega-Hernandez pleaded guilty to two of the nineteen charges against him: one count of destruction of property and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. As part of his plea bargain, the remaining charges were dropped, including the charge of attempting to assassinate the President, which carried a maximum term of life imprisonment. On March 31, 2014, Ortega-Hernandez was sentenced by Judge Rosemary M. Collyer to a term of 25 years imprisonment. His lawyers had asked for a 10-year sentence, stating Ortega-Hernandez was suffering from depression and stress. Prosecutors had asked for the maximum sentence of 27½ years.

See also

• Assassination threats against Barack Obama
• List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots
• White House intruders