The Idaho man accused of trying to assassinate the president had a history of minor arrests in his home state and recently developed conspiracy theories about the end of the world. Those are some of the details that are beginning to emerge about Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez.
Ortega-Hernandez's arrest record includes petty theft, possession of drug paraphernalia and misdemeanor domestic violence. He also appeared in court in 2010 for a child support hearing.
The Associated Press reports Ortega-Hernandez has a 2-year-old son with his ex-fiance.
The latest warrant was issued two weeks ago, when he failed to show up in an Idaho Falls court on outstanding charges that he failed to put tags on his dog.
By that point, Ortega-Hernandez's family had already reported him missing. According to reports by the Spanish-language channel Telemundo, Ortega-Hernandez's father said his son had become obsessed with the date 11/11/11. He apparently believed it was the day the world would end.
That date was last Friday, when federal agents say Ortega-Hernandez fired on the White House with a semiautomatic rifle.
In an interview with the Idaho Falls Post-Register newspaper, Ortega-Hernandez's mother said her son isn't capable of committing an act like that without outside influence.
On the Web:
Arrest warrant and criminal complaint:
http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/267730/oscar-ortega-hernandez-arrest-warrant-and.pdf
Copyright 2011 Northwest News Network
Copyright 2011 Northwest News Network
