A man accused in a Washington Monument-area shooting made statements hostile to the White House and faced federal charges, according to a court filing made public this week. The filing describes a Secret Service account that Michael Marx, 45, of Midland, Texas, moved along the path of Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade before the confrontation and then, after the shooting, made vulgar remarks about the White House while he was being transported for medical care.
The affidavit cited in the filing says Marx was in the back of an ambulance on his way to a hospital when he made the remarks. The filing does not specify whether prosecutors believe Marx had a specific target.
Marx’s case centers on Monday’s encounter near the Washington Monument, where law enforcement officers responded after a Secret Service agent reported that Marx was seen near the White House complex with a firearm concealed on the right side of his body. The filing says officers spotted Marx near the intersection of 15th Street and Independence Avenue while they were responding to that report.
According to the affidavit, Marx pulled a firearm from his waistband as he ran away from Secret Service officers and fired at an officer. It also says that a bystander behind the officer was shot in the leg, and that officers returned fire and struck Marx in his abdomen, a hand and his left arm.
After the shooting, the filing says Marx spit at officers as they provided him with aid. It also says the teenage bystander was not seriously injured and had been released from a hospital, with ABC News reporting that outcome first.
The filing further says Marx was charged in a complaint with assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon, discharging a firearm during a violent crime, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. The complaint’s contents were reported by authorities in court materials, and online court records did not immediately list the name of a lawyer representing Marx.
Prosecutors described the remarks as part of the account of the confrontation. In a statement, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said her office “will pursue the most serious charges available against anyone who brings gun violence to our streets, particularly when that violence unfolds steps from the seat of our government and the path of the Vice President of the United States.”
The filing says Marx had used aliases, including Michael Patrick and Michael Zavici, and that he had a 2011 drug trafficking conviction in Florida that made it illegal for him to possess a firearm. The sworn statement does not specify whether investigators believe Marx had a particular target.
Around the time of Monday’s shooting, President Donald Trump was holding a small business event at the White House, and authorities briefly locked down the area as they investigated. The case comes just over a week after a California man tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner while armed with guns and knives, according to the reporting in the filing.