A man was reportedly arrested this week after allegedly firing multiple rounds into the offices of an ABC News affiliate in California, just days after the network suspended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for spreading falsehoods about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Police identified the suspect as 64-year-old Anibal Hernandez-Santana. He faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon, negligent discharge of a firearm, and shooting into an occupied building. Authorities said no one was injured, though the bullets left visible damage to the windows of the Sacramento station.
While the investigation remains ongoing, reporting from Variety revealed that Hernandez-Santana is a former legislative director for the California Federation of Teachers. His social media accounts, according to the report, are filled with posts targeting conservatives and railing against President Donald J. Trump.
In one July post, Hernandez-Santana allegedly wrote: “The authoritarian oligarchy is now complete. CBS+ caving, big law firms in DC, the subservients FBI and AG, university presidents stepping down, fan boys SCOTUS, public radio, ICE goons. We are going to have to ‘fight like hell’. Rules don’t apply if election was stolen. FIGHT!”
Conservative commentators seized on the revelations. “The man suspected of firing 3 shots into the window of an ABC affiliate in California after the Kimmel decision is a former teacher’s union legislative director whose X feed is full of far-left rhetoric encouraging escalation,” posted the account “AG.”
Local station KCRA aired footage of the shattered glass, the bullet holes a stark reminder of how quickly political rhetoric can spill into violence.
The incident came on the heels of ABC’s decision to pull Kimmel’s late-night show indefinitely after a firestorm of criticism over his remarks about Kirk’s murder. On his Monday broadcast, Kimmel mocked Trump’s response to Kirk’s killing and falsely claimed the shooter was part of the “MAGA gang.”
“We hit 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 on air.
Kirk, 31, the founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated earlier this month while speaking at Utah Valley University. His death shocked conservatives nationwide, leading to tributes from political leaders and grassroots activists alike. For many, Kimmel’s willingness to inject false claims and mockery into coverage of the tragedy was seen as a new low for a network already facing criticism for bias.
Now, the fallout has extended to violence against the very network that carried Kimmel’s show. For conservatives, the suspect’s background — a former union official, steeped in anti-Trump rhetoric — is a glaring example of the dangers posed by a political culture that excuses or minimizes hostility when directed at the right.
As authorities continue their investigation, the case has already become emblematic of the broader divide: a television host who smeared a murdered conservative, a network scrambling to contain the backlash, and a shooter whose politics appear to align with the very rhetoric ABC had allowed to fester on its airwaves.
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