The fallout from the tragic assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk has now taken another disturbing turn — one that exposes just how toxic and combustible our political climate has become.
In Sacramento, California, a man opened fire on the local ABC News affiliate, shattering the glass of the station’s studio window in a moment of politically charged rage. The suspect, identified as 64-year-old Anibal Hernandez-Santana, is now in custody and facing serious charges, including assault with a deadly weapon and firing into an occupied building. Thankfully, no injuries were reported, but the incident is a grim reminder of how media narratives — when reckless and dishonest — can help ignite real-world violence.
The man suspected of firing 3 shots into the window of an ABC affiliate in California after the Kimmel decision is a former teacher's union legislative director whose X feed is full of far-left rhetoric encouraging escalation. pic.twitter.com/rxwVi7cg4u
— AG (@AGHamilton29) September 20, 2025
The shooting came on the heels of ABC’s decision to pull late-night host Jimmy Kimmel indefinitely following a deeply controversial and factually false rant on his show. Kimmel had mocked President Trump’s heartfelt response to Kirk’s assassination and wrongly claimed the shooter was affiliated with the “MAGA gang,” despite no evidence to support such a narrative. That lie — broadcast to millions — lit a political firestorm, and it appears one man took it much too far.
According to a report from Variety, Hernandez-Santana is not some unhinged outsider, but a former legislative director for the California Federation of Teachers — someone who has worked at high levels within progressive political circles. His social media history reads like a far-left fever dream, with calls to “fight like hell,” denunciations of public institutions as part of a “fascist oligarchy,” and a general tone of militant anti-Trump radicalism. This wasn’t just a guy with a grievance. It was someone deeply embedded in the ideological echo chamber of the activist left.
And this matters.
Because while we’ve heard endless lectures about the “danger” of right-wing rhetoric, this incident — like so many others — underscores a reality the mainstream media would prefer you ignore: political violence does not come from one direction. It festers wherever extremism is fed, and increasingly, that includes within left-wing activist spheres, academia, and yes — the media itself.
NEW: The man who shot up the ABC affiliate in Sacramento following the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel, has been identified as Anibal Hernandez-Santana.
An X account that appears to belong to Hernandez-Santana is full of anti-Trump posts, as reported by Variety.
The man, 64,… pic.twitter.com/4fZmyLZCkR
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 20, 2025
Jimmy Kimmel’s comments were not just tasteless — they were inflammatory, divisive, and reckless at a moment when national tensions were already sky-high. Nexstar’s broadcasting president, Andrew Alford, got it exactly right in his statement: “Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.” That kind of rhetoric doesn’t just reflect poorly on the network — it has consequences, especially when it’s repeated in front of a late-night audience conditioned to laugh at the “right” people being mocked.
Now we’re left grappling with the results: a national conversation more fractured than ever, an assassination politicized in real time, and a television studio turned into a crime scene.