An Idaho man charged with firing two shots at the White House last week was making his first court appearance before a federal magistrate in Pittsburgh on Thursday, one day after he was arrested at a western Pennsylvania hotel.
Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez sat quietly as the hearing began, his hands free but his feet shackled.
At the initial appearance, the 21-year-old Ortega will be told of the charge against him and a magistrate judge will ensure he has an attorney. The federal public defender's office in Pittsburgh has confirmed it was representing Ortega at this stage, but it wasn't clear who will assist him going forward.
Authorities said a man clad in black who was obsessed with President Barack Obama pulled his car within view of the White House on Friday night and fired shots from an assault rifle, cracking a window of the first family's living quarters while the president was away.
Soon after, U.S. Park Police found an abandoned vehicle, with an assault rifle inside it, near a bridge leading out of the nation's capital to Virginia. The car led investigators to Ortega.
He was arrested Wednesday afternoon at a hotel near Indiana, Pa., about 55 miles east of Pittsburgh, after a desk clerk recognized his picture. He had been reported missing Oct. 31 by his family.
Federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh were expected to ask the judge for a detention order keeping Ortega jailed until trial. They must prove he is a danger to the community or a risk to flee prosecution.
Ortega was not expected to enter a plea Thursday.
Because Ortega was arrested on a warrant from outside Pennsylvania, he may ask to have his next hearing held in Pittsburgh or waive that right and have the hearing held after he's returned to Washington, D.C., where the charge originated.
As for the smoking part, probably something very very powerful. 
