The Idaho man accused of trying to kill President Obama after firing a rifle at the White House was indicted Tuesday by a grand jury on the assassination attempt and a number of additional charges.
Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, 21, also faces 16 counts ranging from assault with a deadly weapon on three Secret Service members, to interstate transportation of a firearm, to damage to U.S. property — the White House — by firing a weapon at the building.
The charges stem from a Nov. 11 incident in which prosecutors say Mr. Ortega-Hernandez fired a Romanian-made semiautomatic rifle from a car while driving past the White House. President Obama was not in Washington when the shooting occurred. Although no one was injured as a result of the shots fired, prosecutors say the assault charges relate to three Secret Service members who were on security detail at the White House at the time of the shooting.
Mr. Ortega-Hernandez fled to western Pennsylvania, in part by hopping a freight train, and was arrested there five days later. He has been held without bond since that time.
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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