FBI Director Kash Patel said on Monday that the suspect who allegedly opened fire on ABC10’s television station in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension is back in custody.
Federal authorities arrested 64-year-old Anibal Hernandez Santana for allegedly violating statute 47 USC 333, which criminalizes interference with licensed broadcasts, Patel announced on X. Santana had been initially released from custody on a $200,000 bond on Saturday after allegedly firing three bullets into the window of the station’s lobby on Friday.
“The FBI has taken into custody the suspect linked to the shooting into ABC10’s Sacramento station lobby under a federal hold for interference with licensed broadcasts. Targeted acts of violence are unacceptable and will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law,” Patel said.
The FBI has taken into custody the suspect linked to the shooting into ABC10’s Sacramento station lobby under a federal hold for interference with licensed broadcasts.
Targeted acts of violence are unacceptable and will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law. pic.twitter.com/M9yy1tSjGv
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) September 22, 2025
The shooting resulted in no injuries or deaths despite the building being occupied. Santana had initially been booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail around midnight on Friday on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied building and negligent discharge of a firearm, according to NBC-affiliated KCRA 3.
Santana is ineligible for bail as he awaits his court appearance in federal custody, according to KCRA 3.
The incident occurred following ABC’s decision to indefinitely suspend Kimmel’s late night program, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” after he falsely suggested that the assassin of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was part of the “MAGA gang” and compared President Donald Trump’s reaction to Kirk’s death to a child mourning a goldfish.
“We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said during his Sept. 15 monologue. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving. On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism. But on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this” … “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody he [Trump] called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, okay.”
Ahead of taping Wednesday’s program, Kimmel reportedly planned to double down on his remarks and say his comments were purposefully misinterpreted by conservatives. Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Entertainment co-chairwoman Dana Walden worried that Kimmel’s remarks would “fan the flames” rather than “take down the temperature,” which in turn led to the permanent suspension of the program.
Protests erupted outside of ABC’s headquarters and other parts of the U.S. in support of Kimmel. Democrats and liberal media figures branded Kimmel’s suspension as an attack on free speech.
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