An Idaho man who fired an assault rifle at the White House and struck the residential wing in 2011 pleaded guilty on Wednesday to terrorism and weapons charges . Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez , 22 , of Idaho Falls , drove 2,000 miles to Washington to carry out the attack , the Justice Department said . On Nov. 11 , 2011 , shortly before 9 p.m . ET , he stopped his car in the middle of Constitution Avenue and fired at least eight shots from a Romanian Cugir semi-automatic , an AK-47 style rifle , through the open passenger window . He sped off but crashed nearby , managing to get away on foot and ultimately hopping aboard an empty car of a freight train . He was arrested in Indiana , Pennsylvania , five days later . No one was hurt in the incident . Read the complaint against Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez . Ortega-Hernandez faces a minimum of 10 years in prison , and a possible maximum of just over 27 years under sentencing guidelines . He admitted that the attack was an act of terrorism . `` Firing an assault rifle at the White House to make a political statement is terrorism , plain and simple , '' U.S. Attorney Ron Machen said in a statement that also made reference to this week 's Washington Navy Yard shooting . `` As we have seen this week , gunmen who come to the nation 's capital bent on violence can inflict terrible damage , '' Machen said . According to the FBI , Ortega-Hernandez 's friends reported that he made anti-government statements beginning in 2010 . He believed that the federal government was trying to control Americans through GPS , fluoride and aspartame . He was also angry at what he believed was U.S. bullying of other countries , including in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq , and claimed that the president was the `` anti-Christ '' and told friends he was `` on a mission from God to take out Obama . '' He bought the assault rifle from a private seller the previous March for $ 550 , and later bought more than 1,200 rounds of ammunition and a scope , federal authorities said . He practiced shooting on federal land near Idaho Falls . According to the FBI , Ortega-Hernandez made two short videos on October 23 , 2011 , praising Osama bin Laden for having the courage to stand up to the United States , and called for a revolution against the federal government . In the videos , Ortega-Hernandez described himself as a `` cold-hearted warrior of God '' and declared , `` it 's time for Armageddon . '' After the shooting , FBI and Secret Service agents found eight locations where the bullets struck the White House , including a window sill of the Truman balcony on the south side of the mansion .
Idaho man fired assault weapon at the White House in 2011 , striking the residence ; no one hurt . Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez had praised Osama bin Laden , admitted it was act of terror . According to FBI , Ortega-Hernandez said in video `` it 's time for Armageddon '' Prosecutor says `` as we 've seen this week '' these kinds of attacks can inflict terrible damage .