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Jan. 6 Protestor Accused of Attacking FBI Office in Cincinnati

Photo: Google Maps

A man armed with an assault rifle tried to break into the FBI field office in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Thursday morning. After fleeing the scene and getting in an extended standoff with law enforcement, Ohio State Police announced that the man was shot and killed by officers.

On Friday, Ohio State Police identified the man as 42-year-old Ricky W. Shiffer, confirming earlier reports of his identity. Around 9 a.m., Shiffer tried to get past security at the FBI complex and made it inside the visitor screening facility, according to law-enforcement officials. He then fired what was described as a nail gun at staff before fleeing in a vehicle and heading north on I-71 toward Columbus.

Around 9 a.m., a man carrying an AR-15-style rifle tried to get past security at the FBI complex and made it inside the visitor screening facility, according to law-enforcement officials who told NBC News. The man fired what was described as a nail gun at staff before fleeing in a white Ford Crown Victoria and heading north on I-71 toward Columbus. After a six-hour standoff on a rural road off the highway, Shiffer was shot and killed by police. The Ohio State Highway Patrol said in a statement they tried to use “less lethal tactics” to arrest him, but officers shot him when he “raised a firearm.”

Police officials are now investigating a motive for the break-in, but NBC News reports that Shiffer was in attendance at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, the day when Trump supporters took over the building to stop the certification of the election while threatening to kill the vice-president. According to the New York Times, investigators are looking for any ties connecting the suspect to extremist groups. Earlier this week, an account on Truth Social — the social media platform Donald Trump founded after he was kicked off Twitter — with Shiffer’s name on it wrote that Trump supporters should be “ready to kill the enemy” and to “kill [the FBI] on sight.” The Washington Post reports that the account is one of the most active on Truth Social, with 374 posts in the last eight days. At 9:29 a.m. on Thursday, minutes after the attempted FBI break-in, the account posted: “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 F.B.I., and it’ll mean either I was taken off the internet, the F.B.I. got me, or they sent the regular cops while.” According to the New York Times, law enforcement officials have been aware of Shiffer for months.

Shiffer’s attempted break-in comes after widespread calls for violence on the far right following the FBI search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on Monday, which has been decried by conservatives and Republican officials as the actions of a police state. FBI director Christopher Wray this week condemned such rhetoric, which includes threats against a federal magistrate who signed off on the court-approved search for classified materials. “Violence against law enforcement is not the answer,” Wray said, “no matter who you’re upset with.”

Jan. 6 Protestor Accused of Attacking FBI Office in Ohio