Arizona man convicted of threatening to assassinate President Trump at his inauguration

A federal jury convicted a Casa Grande man of threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris, concluding a four-day trial focused on a mentally ill combat veteran’s descent into increasingly bizarre and violent demands aimed at the nation’s highest officeholders.

Rene Ortiz, 56, a U.S. Marine veteran, was found guilty of two felony counts of threats against successors to the presidency and one count of threats against a former president.

He faces up to five years in prison for each count.

‘Targeting the head, not the ear’

On Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, Ortiz hand-delivered a document to the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse in Phoenix bearing a signature line that read “Rene Ortiz, United States Marine, Combat Veteran.”

The filing asked the court for permission to “execute the newly elected POTUS by firing an M-16A2 Service Rifle with a magazine of 6 rounds,” directed at whichever candidate won: Harris or Trump.

A second document, delivered Nov. 25 to the federal courthouse in Tucson, escalated the threats further.

Ortiz wrote that he is “entitled to shot (sic) the incoming fraudulent elected POTUS from 300 or 666 yards away with 666 rounds for an M-16A2 service rifle at the inauguration on Jan. 20th, 2025.”

A separate filing petitioned the court “for him to make an attempt to shot (sic) at the candidate with an M-16A2 service rifle with a magazine of 3 rounds from a distance of 300 or 500 yards, the rounds targeting the head not the ear of the candidate.”

The language appeared to reference the July 2024 assassination attempt on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, in which a bullet grazed the then-candidate’s ear, according to court records.

Ortiz told Secret Service he would act on the threat ‘if my demands are not met’

On Dec. 5, 2024, Secret Service agents interviewed Ortiz at the agency’s Phoenix field office. During the interview, Ortiz admitted to making the threats. When asked if he planned to shoot the president-elect, Ortiz responded, “if my demands are not met.”

Ortiz told agents his grievance was with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

He said that while employed at the VA, the agency promised to pay for his schooling if he quit. Ortiz quit and enrolled in school but said he was never reimbursed for his education.

He was arrested Jan. 17, 2025, three days before President Trump’s inauguration.

Jury was unmoved by a mental health defense

Ortiz’s public defenders argued the filings were the desperate acts of a mentally ill man who never intended to carry out the threats and posed no real danger.

A licensed psychologist testified that Ortiz, who served in combat, suffers from schizoaffective disorder and borderline personality disorder.

The jury returned the guilty verdict Monday.

“The message in this case is clear: The American people will not stand for threats of political violence against President Trump or any other elected official,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine in a news release.

His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 1.

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