ABC Station Shooter Threatens Trump Administration: Police Report

A 64-year-old lawyer from California is charged with firing several gunshots into the lobby of a Sacramento TV station amidst a protest against ABC’s indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel. The attorney is also suspected of making threats against significant law enforcement figures during Trump’s administration. Evidence suggests Anibal Hernandez Santana may have threatened FBI Director Kash Patel, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, as indicated by court filings.

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

Sacramento Police Department officers arrested Hernandez Santana initially on Friday afternoon, charging him with assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied space, and negligent firearm discharge.

Following a $200,000 bail posting on Saturday, Hernandez Santana was released from the Sacramento County Jail. However, federal agents arrested him again later that day on charges related to possessing and discharging a firearm within a school zone, and interfering with radio communication, as outlined by federal prosecutors from California’s Eastern District in a press release.

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

“Hernandez Santana, standing on the block’s sidewalk near 2555 3rd Street, initially fired into the air toward the station,” the DOJ report states. “He then proceeded to drive to the station’s front and discharged three shots into the lobby. A KXTV/ABC 10 employee was present inside the lobby at that moment, yet no one was harmed. The location of the first shot fell within a school zone.”

Upon his release, authorities searched Hernandez Santana’s home and car, allegedly discovering his personal planner. It reportedly contained a handwritten entry under “Sept. 19,” 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.