FBI Director Kash Patel announced Monday that the man accused of shooting at ABC10’s Sacramento station lobby is back in custody after a brief release. The arrest follows a controversial period in which the network suspended a high-profile host and tensions on the street and online spiked.
Federal authorities have arrested 64-year-old Anibal Hernandez Santana on a federal hold for alleged interference with licensed broadcasts under 47 USC 333, Patel on X. Santana had reportedly been released on a $200,000 bond before being returned to custody after allegedly firing three bullets into the station’s lobby window; no one was injured.
“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. Targeted acts of violence are unacceptable and will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law,” Patel said.
The shooting happened even though the building was occupied, and the physical danger was real for staff and visitors. Santana was initially booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on local charges that included assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied building and negligent discharge of a firearm. Federal custody now makes him ineligible for bail while he awaits a court appearance.
This incident did not happen in a vacuum; it followed ABC’s decision to indefinitely suspend Jimmy Kimmel after his remarks about the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. Conservatives have argued the network’s disciplinary move was overdue given the broader context of provocative media rhetoric, and many on the right see a direct line between extreme commentary and acts of real-world violence.
“We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said during his Sept. 15 monologue. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving. On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism. But on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this” … “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody he [Trump] called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, okay.”
Reports indicate Kimmel planned to double down on his remarks before taping, and executives at Disney — including CEO Bob Iger and co-chair Dana Walden — feared those comments would inflame rather than calm a volatile moment. Disney ultimately moved to suspend the program, a decision corporate leaders described as necessary to prevent further escalation.
Protests cropped up outside ABC facilities and other locations in support of Kimmel, and many on the left framed the suspension as an attack on free speech. From a Republican perspective, that framing ignores the difference between protected expression and rhetoric that crosses into reckless, dehumanizing commentary that can stoke violence.
It is right and necessary that the FBI moved quickly to secure the suspect and apply federal statutes designed to protect licensed broadcasts and public safety. The charge under 47 USC 333 is serious precisely because it targets interference that can intimidate staff and disrupt the flow of information the public depends on. The law should be applied firmly and transparently so the public can see consequences for violent acts, regardless of the political backdrop.
There are two separate responsibilities here: one for law enforcement to do its job without political bias, and one for media figures to exercise judgment and avoid language that provokes real danger. Accountability must be consistent — if rhetoric contributes to an atmosphere where violence becomes more likely, that should be called out by peers and employers. At the same time, violent acts must be prosecuted without regard to which side of the political aisle the suspect or the commentator falls on.
Questions remain about how Santana was able to post bond initially and why federal custody was not immediately asserted, and those are legitimate transparency issues for prosecutors and local officials to address. Republicans should press for a full, public accounting of the chain of custody, the bond decision and the federal request that brought him back into custody. The public needs confidence that justice is being done, that TV talent are not above consequences for dangerous words, and that perpetrators of violence face swift punishment.
The episode should be a wake-up call for institutions and personalities that traffic in extreme rhetoric for clicks and ratings. Media companies must weigh the public safety consequences of their platforms and enforce standards that discourage escalation. Meanwhile, law enforcement and federal prosecutors should keep pursuing clear violations of the law so headlines about chaos are replaced with sober facts and accountable outcomes.
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h/t: Daily Caller
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