Gunman who attacked Ohio FBI office allegedly motivated by Mar-a-Lago search

Last Thursday, 42-year-old Columbus man Ricky Shiffer attempted to attack the FBI field office in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was apparently armed with a nail gun and an AR-15 rifle and wearing body armor, according to CNN. Ultimately killed in a confrontation with police later that day, Shiffer had allegedly targeted the FBI building because of the agency’s investigation into Trump.

Shiffer, a Navy veteran, had only accumulated speeding tickets and other minor traffic offenses until July 2003, according to NBC News. He pleaded guilty to a charge of obstructing legal process in Moorhead, Minnesota, though NBC News states the police record of the case has been purged. Shiffer was a “devoted follower of former President Donald Trump,” and allegedly attended the January 6th Capitol riot in 2021, though was not prosecuted for his connection to the event.

His connection to January 6th and his attack of the FBI office on Thursday shared a common thread: Shiffer posted about his participation on social media. CBS Pittsburgh reports that a post on Trump’s Truth Social platform is believed to be from Shiffer after his failed breach attempt around 9:30AM, confessing “If you don’t hear from me, it is true I died attacking the F.B.I.”

When the nail gun failed to shatter bulletproof glass in the visitor screening area, Shiffer fled from responding agents, and was later found by a state trooper on a road near Route 73, which would result in the fatal gun battle.

According to CBS Pittsburgh, the FBI has been on alert for right-wing domestic terror incidents of this nature since the news of Mar-a-Lago’s investigation broke. Agents have been warned to “avoid protestors and ensure their security key cards are not visible outside FBI space” due to the abundance of threats and calls to action made against them on social media.