A man accused of firing an assault rifle at the White House was appointed a public defender and ordered held without bond in first appearance in court in Washington Monday.
A judge set the next court hearing for 21-year-old Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez for Nov. 28, following a psychological evaluation.
Ortega’s public defender argued the two witnesses could not identify Ortega and told conflicting stories, but do to his criminal history in three states -– mostly drug and alcohol offenses -– and the seriousness of the attempted assassination charge, the judge ruled no bond in the case, News4’s Elaine Reyes reported.
Ortega was arrested last week in Pennsylvania. The Idaho Falls, Idaho, resident is accused of driving by the White House on the evening of Nov. 11 and firing at the White House from his vehicle, which he allegedly crashed minutes later near the Roosevelt Bridge. One of the apparently nine rounds he fired cracked a window of the first family's living quarters.
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were away, and no one was injured.
If convicted, Ortega -- who was dominant in a mixed martial arts fight in the summer and referred to himself as a modern day Jesus in a video recorded shortly before his trip to the East Coast -- could face life in prison.
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