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Prosecutors say that the suspect, a 64-year-old Sacramento man, had a note critical of Trump administration officials and a separate calendar reminder to “Do the Next Scary Thing.”
By Shawn Hubler and Felicia Mello
Felicia Mello reported from Sacramento.
Sept. 22, 2025Updated 5:36 p.m. ET
A retired California lobbyist was in federal custody on Monday after he was accused of shooting into the lobby of a television station in Sacramento, and prosecutors said that investigators had found a note in his vehicle that criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the case against Jeffrey Epstein.
The lobbyist, Anibal Hernandez Santana, 64, of Sacramento, was formally charged Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court with possessing a firearm within a school zone, discharging a firearm within a school zone and interfering with a licensed broadcaster.
The charges were in addition to more serious state charges of assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied building and negligent discharge of a firearm in connection with the incident on Friday. No clear motive was specified by authorities.
Mr. Hernandez Santana had worked for more than 20 years as a legislative advocate for health care, tribal and labor interests, as well as other organizations. He was free on bond on Saturday when he was arrested again, this time by F.B.I. agents outside his apartment, according to the federal complaint.
In between the arrests, prosecutors said, investigators found the handwritten note in his Nissan sport-utility vehicle.
“For hiding Epstein & ignoring red flags,” the note said, according to prosecutors, apparently referring to the financier and former friend of the president who was found hanged in a jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The note also appeared to refer to two top F.B.I. officials, Kash Patel and Dan Bongino; Attorney General Pam Bondi; and Charlie Kirk, the right-wing political activist who was assassinated the prior week.
