COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A gunman who died in a shootout after trying to enter an FBI office in Cincinnati apparently took to social media and called for federal agents to be killed “on the spot” after a search of the home of former President Donald Trump, a law enforcement official said.
Federal investigators are looking into social media accounts they believe are linked to the shooter, Ricky Schiffer, 42, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
At least one of the messages on Trump’s Truth Social media platform appears to have been posted after Schiffer tried to break into the FBI office. It reads: “If you don’t hear from me, it’s true that I tried to attack the FBI.”
Another message posted on the same site this week by @rickywshifferjr included a “call to arms” and urged people to “be ready to fight” following the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Authorities are also looking into whether Schiffer, a Navy veteran, had ties to far-right extremist groups such as the Proud Boys, the official said.
Schiffer was armed with a nail gun and an AR-15 rifle when he tried to breach the visitor screening area of the FBI office on Thursday, according to the official. Cipher fled when the agents confronted him.
He was later spotted by a state trooper on a highway and engaged in a shootout that ended with him being killed by police, authorities said.
The outbreak of violence came amid warnings by the FBI that federal agents could face attacks after the Florida search.
The FBI is investigating what happened in Cincinnati as an act of domestic extremism, according to the law enforcement official.
Schieffer is believed to have been in Washington in the days leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and may have been at the Capitol that day, but has not been charged with any crimes in connection with the riot, the official said.
Officials have warned of an increase in right-wing threats against federal agents since the FBI entered Trump’s mansion, which authorities say is part of an investigation into whether he took classified documents with him after leaving the White House. Supporters of the former president opposed the search, accusing the FBI and Justice Department of using the legal system as a political weapon.
FBI Director Christopher Wray condemned the threats while visiting an FBI office in Omaha, Nebraska, on Wednesday, saying, “Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you’re upset with.”
On Wednesday, the FBI also warned its agents to avoid protesters and ensure their security key cards “are not visible outside of FBI space,” citing an increase in social media threats against bureau personnel and offices.
A now-suspended Twitter account, @rickyshiffer, shared the same profile picture as the Truth Social account and similar sentiments, including a call for armed conflict in the US last spring.
It included posts saying the “election was rigged” against the Conservatives and that the country was facing “tyranny”.
“I don’t think this is a one-time incident,” said Amy Cooter, a researcher at Middlebury College who is an expert on militias. “I’m afraid there will be a pocket full of people who feel compelled to act.”
Courthouses, government offices and campaign headquarters can all be targets, she said. “It’s fair game everywhere now because these people think it’s a personal issue for them,” Kuter said.
Schiffer worked as an electrician, according to one of his social media accounts. He was a registered Republican who voted in the 2020 primary election from Columbus, Ohio, and the 2020 general election from Tulsa, Oklahoma, according to public records.
Court records show the Ohio Department of Taxation filed a lawsuit against him in June seeking a judgment on a $553 tax lien, according to court records that list him at an address in St. Petersburg, Florida. He also previously lived at several addresses in Columbus and Omaha, Nebraska.
He graduated from Central Pennsylvania High School in 1998 and enlisted in the Navy that year, later serving on the submarine USS Columbia until 2003, according to military records. He was an infantry soldier in the Florida Army National Guard from 2008 until 2011 when he was honorably discharged.
“I know he was away in World War II and the military,” said Lori Frady, a classmate at West Perry High School in Elliottsburg who hadn’t seen Schiffer since graduation. “He didn’t have many friends, but the friends he had were big on history and military history.”
___
Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Julie Carr Smith in Columbus, Ryan Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, John Seaver in Toledo, Marjorie Beck in Omaha, Neb., and Jim Mustian and researcher Rhonda Schaffner in New York contributed to this report.
___
Hendrickson is a corps member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. America Report is a national nonprofit program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercover issues.
Add Comment