Gunman posted ‘ call to arms’ after raid on Trump’s home
WASHINGTON: An armed man who fled after attempting to breach an FBI office in Ohio appears to have posted a “call to arms” on Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform after federal agents raided the former US president’s home in Florida last week, US media reported on Friday.
An account bearing the name of 42- year- old suspect Ricky Shiffer, identified by Ohio authorities on Friday, featured multiple posts of violent anger including his failed plan to attack an FBI office, according to screen shots of the profile, multiple US outlets reported.
“This is your call to arms,” an account bearing Shiffer’s name posted on Truth Social.
“I am proposing war,” the account posted, urging “patriots” to kill federal agents the day after Trump’s Florida residence was searched by the FBI – a move that sparked outrage in rightwing circles.
Shortly before it was removed from the social media platform, the same account appeared on Thursday to confess to attempting to storm FBI offices in the midwestern state of Ohio.
The FBI said on Thursday that a person armed with a weapon had tried to breach the entry to the bureau’s office in the city of Cincinnati.
According to local media, the man fired a nail gun and brandished an AR- 15- style rifle before fleeing by car.
“Well, I thought I had a way through bullet proof glass, and I didn’t. If you don’t hear from me, it is true, I tried attacking the FBI, and it’ll mean either I was taken off the internet, the FBI got me, or they sent the regular cops while,” read a post, which appears to end mid- sentence and was shared Thursday morning, according to reports.
The incident drew nationwide attention as it occurred only a few days after the FBI search of Trump’s Mar- a- Lago mansion, although there was no immediate confirmation the events were linked.
The suspect in Ohio was killed in a standoff with police after a vehicle pursuit and exchange of gunfire, authorities said.
On Friday, US justice officials also made public the warrant authorising the extraordinary raid on Trump’s Florida estate by FBI agents reportedly seeking to recover sensitive classified documents.
Trump supported the release of the search warrant while complaining that he was the victim of “unprecedented political weaponisation of law enforcement”.
“I am going a step further by the immediate release of those documents, even though they have been drawn up by radical left Democrats and possible future political opponents,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The 76- year- old Trump and his lawyers have actually had a copy of the search warrant and the receipt listing the property seized by FBI agents for days and they could have revealed the contents previously themselves.
The FBI search last Monday of the Mar- a- Largo residence was believed to be focused on classified papers that may have been removed from the White House.
The unusual move to unseal the search warrant was announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland – the country’s top law enforcement officer – who said he had “personally approved” the raid.
Garland said he had asked a Florida judge to unseal the warrant because of “substantial public interest in this matter” and he gave Trump and his legal team time to oppose the motion.
According to US media, the search related to potential mishandling of classified documents taken to Mar- aLago after Trump left the White House in January 2021.
The Justice Department typically does not confirm or deny whether it is investigating someone, and Garland took pains to emphasise the law was being applied fairly to Trump.