A man accused of shooting up an ABC affiliate station in Sacramento, California, on Friday may have been motivated by the network’s suspension of talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel, prosecutors say.
There’s “circumstantial evidence” that Anibal Hernandez Santana, 64, had “a political motive behind” the shooting, Sacramento county district attorney Thien Ho said. “There are some indications here that the motive behind the shooting of the ABC news station was political in kind,” Ho remarked.
The county prosecutor noted that Hernandez allegedly “chose a very particular target, and with … notes that he left behind” along with Kimmel’s temporary suspension, “there’s circumstantial evidence there to show that this was a politically motivated crime by this individual”.
The statement comes as Kimmel was due to return to his late night TV hosting slot Tuesday, though Sinclair, which owns numerous ABC broadcast affiliates, has said it will not carry the show.
Kimmel had criticized the Trump administration’s reaction to the killing of rightwing youth organizer Charlie Kirk on 10 September in Utah. In turn, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission – who is loyal to Donald Trump – had threatened to pull ABC affiliate broadcast licenses if the network did not act against Kimmel.
According to a federal complaint filed Monday by the US attorney’s office in Sacramento, Hernandez wrote a note invoking late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, once a friend of Trump – and said that high-level officials of the president’s administration were “next” while making reference to FBI director Kash Patel, the agency’s deputy director Dan Bongino and US attorney general Pam Bondi.
The complaint said that during a search of Hernandez’s home and vehicle, law enforcement discovered a weekly planner attached to his refrigerator.
Under “Friday,” there was a handwritten note that read: “Do the Next Scary Thing.” Law enforcement also found in his car a handwritten note that read: “For hiding Epstein & ignoring red flags. Do not support Patel, Bongino, & AG Pam Bondi. They’re next. – C.K. from above.”
State authorities first arrested Hernandez in connection with the gunfire at KXTV. The FBI then arrested him soon after he was released on bail Saturday.
Federal prosecutors on Monday have charged Hernandez with possessing a firearm within a school zone, discharging a firearm within a school zone and interfering with a radio communication station.
Prosecutors say Hernandez fired three shots through a window into the lobby of KXTV – and one from across the street “in the direction of the station”, which is near a school.
A demonstration had taken place outside KXTV’s offices a day earlier.
A statement by Hernandez’s said that his client is entitled to due process. “He is innocent unless and until he is found otherwise,” the lawyer, Mark Reichel, said. He said Hernandez would plead not guilty in both the state and federal cases against him. A detention hearing is tentatively scheduled for Thursday.
Hernandez is described in court documents as a former political lobbyist. He reportedly worked for more than two decades as a legislative advocate for healthcare, tribal and labor interests and other organizations.
Officials at ABC’s parent company Disney said in a statement on Monday that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would return to the airwaves and explained that it had made “the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country”.
“It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive,” the statement said. “We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
The station Hernandez is said to have fired on is owned by Tegna rather than Sinclair. Sinclair and Nexstar had said they would pre-empt Kimmel’s show on its ABC affiliates over the host’s Kirk comments prior to the temporary suspension imposed by the network.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Nexstar would follow Sinclair’s lead with Kimmel’s suspension being brought to an end.
