Or maybe not.
WASHINGTON — A man charged with attempting to assassinate US President Barack Obama by firing an assault rifle at the White House has been declared fit to stand trial, but the government Monday called for more tests and a full competency hearing.
Oscar Ortega-Hernandez, 21, who allegedly called Obama the “devil” and the “anti-Christ,” appeared briefly in federal court in handcuffs, sporting long black hair and a thick black beard and wearing dark-blue prison fatigues. [...]
“Although the government does not dispute that conclusion, the government notes that it was based only on a 50-minute screening and submits that a full psychiatric or psychological screening… is warranted,” lawyers said.
This is “given the serious nature of the criminal charges pending against the defendant and the likelihood that mental health issues may arise in the course of these proceedings,” they said in a court filing.
Federal prosecutors are right to double-check the mental competency of the alleged shooter, because you can just imagine the political cross-fire that would surely come from both the far-left and the far-right if they get it wrong and end up prosecuting a man who has been deemed certifiable. After all, even Osama Bin Laden found his fair share of surprise legal-advocates postmortem.