Marine combat veteran who vowed to snipe Trump from 300 yards learns his fate

A Marine combat veteran from Arizona who threatened to kill President Donald Trump with an M16 rifle—saying the shots would target “the head, not the ear”—has learned his sentence.

Rene Ortiz of Casa Grande was sentenced Tuesday to 38 months in federal prison after a Phoenix jury convicted him in June of making threats against the president following a four-day trial. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona had sought at least 36 months, describing Ortiz’s threats as serious while also acknowledging they may have been influenced by his “documented mental health challenges,” according to court documents.

“The language he used to threaten to execute either candidate was frightening,” federal prosecutors wrote in an Oct. 6 sentencing memorandum. They added that Ortiz had specific mental health conditions that “may have contributed to his behavior.”

Ortiz was arrested in early 2025 over alleged assassination threats against Trump made in November and December 2024, while Trump was president-elect. According to a federal complaint, Ortiz left documents at courthouses in Phoenix and Tucson demanding that the courts “execute the newly elected POTUS by firing an M-16A2 Service Rifle with a magazine of 6 rounds.” He then threatened to carry out the shooting himself if his demands were ignored.

“The execution shall commence 3 days upon notice to the Defendants to this action,” Ortiz wrote, specifying that the “6 rounds to be shot will be from 300 or 500 yards away from the target,” according to the complaint.

“ANY REFUSAL OF ANY RIGHT, MR. Ortiz will be entitled to shot THE INCOMING FRAUDULENT ELECTED POTUS FROM 300 OR 666 YARDS AWAY WITH 666 ROUNDS FOR AN M-16A2 SERVICE RIFLE AT THE INAGURATION,” Ortiz wrote. He also claimed to possess an “Expert Badge” in marksmanship.

Federal agents interviewed Ortiz about the threats on Dec. 5, 2024, at the Secret Service’s Phoenix field office. During the questioning, he admitted making the statements.

When asked whether he intended to shoot Trump, Ortiz replied, “If my demands are not met,” according to the complaint. He told investigators that his dispute involved the Department of Veterans Affairs. Ortiz said the VA had promised to pay for his education if he resigned, but that after leaving the agency and enrolling in school, he was not reimbursed for his tuition.

At trial, Ortiz’s family testified that he became upset after being fired from the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the Tucson Sentinel. He began preparing lawsuits challenging his termination and hand-delivered documents to courthouses with help from relatives. His family members drove him there but said they did not know what the documents contained.

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“Mountains and mountains of paperwork,” Ortiz’s oldest son, Ryun Ortiz, reportedly testified.

Ortiz’s court-appointed attorneys argued that he did not genuinely intend to harm the president and maintained that no actual danger had existed, according to court filings and trial testimony. They also said Ortiz has schizoaffective disorder and borderline personality disorder. On June 5, his defense sought a mistrial.

The defense argued that a mistrial was required because the court had created a “manifest necessity” by limiting its questioning of defense witness Deputy U.S. Marshal Vladimir St. Louis, according to the U.S. Attorney’s response. St. Louis had investigated similar threats that Ortiz allegedly made against the U.S. Attorney’s Office in central California two months before his arrest in the Trump case.

In the California matter, U.S. Marshals chose not to arrest Ortiz because they believed he likely had mental health problems. But the judge in the Arizona case barred questions about that decision after prosecutors argued the testimony would constitute “irrelevant hearsay,” court filings state.

“The questions were improper and testimony inadmissible,” prosecutors wrote in a June 8 response to Ortiz’s June 5 mistrial motion. “There is no reason, much less a manifest necessity, to declare a mistrial here and now.”

In its Oct. 6 sentencing memorandum, the U.S. Attorney’s Office characterized Ortiz’s Arizona threats as “specific and violent in nature.”

“The threatening language included detailed descriptions of what he intended to do (execute the winner of the election with an M-16 service rifle) and when and where he planned to do it (at the January 20 presidential inauguration),” prosecutors wrote. They said Ortiz also cited his weapons experience to make the threats appear credible. The investigation and security response required a significant expenditure of government resources to protect the president and former vice president, prosecutors said. They added that any desire to call attention to his other grievances did not excuse his conduct.

Prosecutors said Ortiz’s mental health conditions “cut both ways” when determining an appropriate sentence. They argued, however, that his conditions remained uncontrolled and that he had continued engaging in criminal conduct despite receiving treatment.

“Even today, defendant does not appear to have expressed any remorse for his conduct, and declined to participate in a presentence interview,” prosecutors wrote.

The post “The execution shall commence”: Marine combat vet who pledged to snipe Trump with service rifle from 300 yards away learns his fate first appeared on Law & Crime.