ABC station shooter vowed Trump officials were next: Cops
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Left to right: Anibal Hernandez Santana (X/@AIHSantana), FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before Senate Committee on Appropriations and Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, May 8, 2025 (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana), Dan Bongino appearing on Fox News in June 2025, and Pam Bondi speaking at a press briefing with U.S. President Donald Trump in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room in the White House in Washington, DC on Friday, June 27, 2025 (Photo by Annabelle Gordon/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images).

A 64-year-old California attorney accused of firing multiple shots into a Sacramento TV station lobby — the site of a protest against ABC for indefinitely suspending Jimmy Kimmel — is also being accused of threatening several high-ranking law enforcement officials in the Trump administration. Authorities say they found evidence that the suspected shooter, Anibal Hernandez Santana, may have threatened FBI Director Kash Patel, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, court documents show.

Police described the incident as a “drive-by shooting” that injured no one.

Hernandez Santana was initially arrested Friday afternoon by officers with the Sacramento Police Department and charged with counts of assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied building and negligent discharge of a firearm.

He posted $200,000 bond on Saturday and was released from the Sacramento County Jail, but was picked up by federal agents later that same day and charged with one count each of possessing a firearm within a school zone, discharging a firearm within a school zone, and interfering with a radio communication station, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of California said in a news release.

According to the release, on Sept. 19, Hernandez Santana fired “one shot towards, and three shots into, the KXTV/ABC10 station.”

“While standing on the sidewalk around the block from the station, in front of 2555 3rd Street, Hernandez Santana fired the first shot into the air in the direction of the station,” the DOJ release states. “He then drove to the front of the station and fired three shots directly into the building”s lobby. A KXTV/ABC 10 employee was inside the lobby at the time, although no one was injured. The location from where Hernandez Santana discharged the first shot was within a school zone.”

After his release, authorities executed a search warrant on Hernandez Santana’s home and vehicle, where they allegedly recovered Hernandez Santana’s personal planner. Under the date “Sept. 19,” authorities say there was a handwritten note that read:

“For hiding Epstein & ignoring red flags. Do not support Patel, Bongino, & AG Pam Bondie. They’re next. – C.K. from above.”

Patel announced the arrest on Monday in a post to X, formerly Twitter.

“The FBI has taken into custody the suspect linked to the shooting into ABC10’s Sacramento station lobby under a federal hold for interference with licensed broadcasts,” the director wrote. “Targeted acts of violence are unacceptable and will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.”

Hernandez Santana’s defense attorney, Mark Reichel, told CNN that federal prosecutors have yet to provide him with any evidence against his client.

“He has now been charged in federal court, as what was alleged originally as a state court level crime has been elevated to a federal crime by the Trump Department of Justice,” Reichel reportedly told the cable news station.

The protest at KXTV took place one day before the shooting and came in response to ABC pulling Kimmel’s late-night show from the airwaves due to a remark he made on-air about recently assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Critics have accused the Trump administration of censoring free speech and threatening ABC’s broadcasting license. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said on a podcast, “we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” It is widely assumed that Carr was referring to the merger between Tenga, which owns KXTV and Nexstar Media Group, which will require FCC approval. Kimmel will be returning to the air on Tuesday night, ABC announced on Monday.

Hernandez Santana is currently scheduled to appear in federal court on the afternoon of Sept. 22.

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