Arizona Man Who Threatened to Shoot President Had Prior Threats, Marshal Testifies
Rene Ortiz's family testified his mental health had deteriorated for years. A U.S. Marshal revealed similar threats were made two months before his arrest.
Arizona Man's Trial: Prior Presidential Threats Revealed as Family Describes Mental Decline
A U.S. Marshal testified Thursday in a Phoenix federal courtroom that Rene Ortiz — charged with threatening to kill the president — had made comparable threats against the U.S. attorney's office in central California two months before his arrest, Courthouse News Service reports.
Deputy Investigator Vladimir St. Louis told the jury his involvement with Ortiz began in August 2024. Public defender Success Carter attempted to redirect his testimony toward November 2024, when Ortiz filed multiple documents in federal courthouses in Phoenix and Tucson seeking, in part, judicial authorization to "execute the newly elected POTUS."
Federal prosecutors had previously described a voicemail Ortiz left with judicial staff around the same period, in which he demanded a hearing with the president, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, and other senior government officials.
U.S. District Judge Stephen McNamee blocked Carter from questioning St. Louis about the Marshals' earlier decision not to arrest Ortiz — a decision apparently rooted in concerns about his mental health.
"This case is not about threats to the judiciary," McNamee said Thursday morning. "It's specifically about threats to the president. We're not going to open this up to everyone else who may have been threatened."
Carter objected, arguing prosecutors had already opened the door to that line of inquiry. She also moved to strike McNamee's reference to others who may have been threatened; the George H.W. Bush appointee denied the motion. A subsequent question about whether St. Louis considered Ortiz a low risk for violence was also blocked by the judge, citing prior rulings on admissible testimony.
Documents Filed on Election Day
Ortiz hand-delivered documents to the Sandra Day O'Connor Courthouse in Phoenix on Nov. 5, 2024 — Election Day — that read: "I, Rene Ortiz, hereby move the court to execute the newly elected POTUS. I chose to execute the newly elected POTUS by firing an M-16A2 service rifle with a magazine of 6 rounds. The court and the defendants were warned to withdraw from their campaign."
On Nov. 25, 2024, he delivered two additional documents to the Evo A. DeConcini U.S. Courthouse in Tucson. Those stated, in part: "The plaintiff petitions the court for him to make an attempt to shot 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."
Ortiz's defense team has maintained the threats were never serious and that their client poses no genuine risk of violence, describing him as a mentally ill man who acted out in search of attention.
Family Describes Years of Decline
Ortiz's wife, Maria, and his two sons testified Thursday afternoon. His eldest son, Ryun Ortiz, said his father had become consumed by paperwork after losing his job at the Department of Veterans Affairs — spending "every waking minute" at the home computer filing documents.
"Mountains and mountains of paperwork," Ryun said.
Both Ryun and Maria said they regularly had to remind Ortiz to bathe and eat. Maria said she drove him to the Phoenix courthouse on Nov. 5, 2024, with no knowledge of what the documents contained, believing he was pursuing lawsuits related to his termination from the VA.
Psychologist: 'Bordering on Delusion'
Licensed psychologist Jason Frizzell testified that Ortiz has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and borderline personality disorder. Based on clinical interviews and multiple assessments, Frizzell said Ortiz "was not entirely grounded in reality" and held beliefs "genuinely bordering on delusion."
Frizzell said Ortiz is fixated on what he calls "angel numbers" — including 33, 300 and 600 — and expressed a desire to serve simultaneously as emperor and president of both the United States and Mexico.
On cross-examination, Frizzell acknowledged that Ortiz believed he would be immune from prosecution for threatening presidential candidates once he himself was elected. "It's illogical on its face," Frizzell said.
Prosecutor Abbie Broughton argued Ortiz remained in control of his actions when he filed the court documents and intended the threats to draw attention to more than a dozen civil lawsuits he had filed in the two courthouses. Frizzell countered that no person in a stable mental state would believe threatening the president would successfully generate attention for unrelated civil litigation.
Ortiz rested his case at 3 p.m. Thursday. The government is scheduled to present one rebuttal witness Monday, after which both sides will deliver closing arguments.
Source: Courthouse News Service