WILMINGTON, Ohio — After an hours-long standoff that closed a highway and disrupted rural life, law enforcement officers shot and killed a man they say tried to break into the FBI’s Cincinnati office on Thursday.
Ohio authorities declined to confirm the man’s name or describe his motives. But two law enforcement officers familiar with the case said investigators were investigating whether the man, whom they identified as Ricky Shiffer, had ties to extremist groups, including one that participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The day after former President Donald J. Trump’s Florida private residence was searched by the FBI, someone with an account by the name of Mr. Shiffer posted on Mr. Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, recommending that ” patriots” go to Florida and kill federal agents. On Thursday, the same account also appeared to confess to an attack on the FBI
The Ohio attack came three days after agents issued a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s beachfront home and club, and a day after the FBI director told reporters that online threats against federal law enforcement officers’ were deplorable and dangerous. ”
The man, who officials said was wearing body armor, attempted to breach the entrance to the visitor screening facility outside the FBI’s Cincinnati field office in the Kenwood suburb around 9 a.m., said Todd Lindgren, a spokesman for the agency. He said an alarm had gone off and officers were responding.
After fleeing, the man drove north on Interstate 71, officials said, where he was spotted by a state agent at a rest area about 20 minutes later. That trooper started a chase and came under gunfire, said Ohio State Highway Patrol Lieutenant Nathan Dennis.
The chase eventually left the freeway and wound down country roads before coming to a stop at an Interstate 71 overpass near the town of Wilmington. Lieutenant Dennis said shots were exchanged. He said officers attempted to negotiate with the man and then subdue him with non-lethal ammunition. Those attempts failed. The man eventually raised a gun, Lieutenant Dennis said, and officers opened fire, fatally wounding him.
The attack came in a week in which many Republicans had criticized the FBI for searching Mr Trump’s home, with some calling it a dangerous Justice Department weapon. Some figures on the right also made wider calls for violence and civil war.
On Thursday night, Christopher A. Wray, the FBI director, defended the agency and denounced attacks on law enforcement.
“Unwarranted attacks on the integrity of the FBI undermine respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others,” said Mr. wray. “Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be a serious burden to all Americans.”
Federal investigators said they were investigating Mr. Shiffer’s social media accounts. On Tuesday, a Truth Social account in the name of @rickywshifferjr posted a message encouraging people to go to Florida, where, as he wrote, “Mar is A Lago.”
“I recommend going, and being Florida I don’t think the FBI will break it up,” the message read. “IF they do, kill them.”
Then Thursday morning a message appeared: “If you don’t hear from me, it’s true I tried to attack the FBI”
DailyExpertNews could not immediately confirm whether the account, or other social media accounts, belonged to Mr Shiffer.
A Twitter account called @RickyShiffer expressed his approval for the far-right group the Proud Boys. Law enforcement officers said they were investigating whether he appeared in a video posted to Facebook on Jan. 5, 2021, showing him attending a pro-Trump demonstration at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington the night before the shooting. Capitol was stormed.
In May, the @RickyShiffer Twitter account responded to a photo of rioters climbing the walls of the Capitol on Jan. 6 with a message claiming that he was present at the building and that people other than Trump supporters appeared to be to blame. give for the attack.
“I was there,” the message read. “We watched your guys do that.”
Mr Shiffer was not charged with crimes related to the January 6 attack. At an address in Columbus, Ohio believed to be related to Mr. Shiffer, police cars were parked outside Thursday night and tape from the crime scene blocked entry.
In the rural area where the stalemate took place, daily life was thrown into chaos on Thursday. For hours, residents of Clinton County, Ohio, watched as police officers swarmed and helicopters hovered overhead. When Rob Thompson left to run errands shortly after 10am, he was greeted at the end of his driveway by a speeding white Ford Crown Victoria being chased by several police officers.
“I thought since we’re off the highway they were just chasing a speeder,” said Mr. Thompson, who said his family had owned and cultivated 4,000 acres near Wilmington, Ohio, for three generations.
He soon learned that the man being chased, who stopped about half a mile from his driveway at the edge of a cornfield, was wanted for trying to break into the FBI office. The tall corn blocked his view of the standoff, but Mr. Thompson said he went to the top of his grain bins to get a better look.
At the 73 Grill, near the site of the standoff, residents talked about disrupted days and awkward moments. Edgar Castillo was preparing for the grill lunch rush on Thursday — double cheeseburgers are the big draw — when sirens disrupted the typically quiet community.
“I saw a lot of cars and police everywhere, and I didn’t know what was going on, but I had to prepare lunches for delivery,” Mr Castillo said.
Other residents were alerted to the commotion by the Clinton County Emergency Management Agency, which sent text messages asking them to take shelter in place.
“My boss grabbed his gun and we went out and started looking at the cornfields,” said Donna Bowman, who works at a nearby farm. “Because we were told the gunman was hiding in a cornfield, but we didn’t know where.”
Johnny Diazo, Amanda Holpuch and Lucia Walinchus reporting contributed. Kitty Bennett research contributed.