The man arrested by the Argentine authorities for the attack on Argentine Vice President Cristina Kirchner is known as Fernando André Sabag Montiel. The 35-year-old Brazilian, born in São Paulo, has lived in the neighboring country since 1993 and is registered to work as an app driver, according to the Minister of Security, Aníbal Fernández.
Fernando André Sabag Montiel pointed a revolver at the Argentine Vice President’s
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, 69, was mercifully left uninjured after the firearm misfired just inches from her head, the country’s president stated. Hundreds of supporters had gathered at the entrance to de Kirchner’s residence in Buenos Aires on Thursday night when a guy threatened the politician with a gun.
Dramatic footage shows the man brandishing a weapon just inches from her head as she greeted the throng. The scared politician can be seen cowering and cradling her head as her security agents overpowered the assailant just seconds after he squeezed the weapon.
President Alberto Fernandez said the gun – which was swiftly confiscated – had been loaded with five bullets but jammed when fired. He said: “A man put a handgun at her head and pulled the trigger. ” Cristina is still alive because, for some reason yet to be proven, the gun did not fire.”
The man – who detectives have identified as 35-year-old Fernando André Sabag Montiel from Brazilian – was captured within seconds. Gina De Bai, a witness who was close to the vice president during the incident, told The Associated Press she heard the sound of the trigger being pulled.
She said she didn’t recognize it was a revolver until the man was subdued by security personnel. Sergio Massa, the country’s economics minister, called the horrifying episode an “attempted assassination.” “When hate and violence prevail over dialogue, nations are destroyed and events like these arise: attempted assassination,” he tweeted.
What is his profession? Before that incedent
According to an official at the Security Ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the weapon was a .32-caliber Bersa. The suspect, Montiel, is said to have a Nazi tattoo and on social media have selfies with celebrities such as media personality Zulma Lobato and influencer La Chabona.
He has also been on Argentine TV, including a recent interview on the channel Cronica, in which he lambasted the Argentine government and Economy Minister Sergio Massa. Photos have emerged of him wearing a huge black-sun tattoo on his elbow.
The black sun, or sun wheel, is a symbol originally employed by Nazi Germany and afterwards by neo-Nazis and is associated with Nazi occultism.
President Fernandez called the murder attempt “the most dangerous occurrence since we recovered democracy in 1983 after a military dictatorship”. Former President Mauricio Macri also condemned the incident.
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He stated on Twitter: “This very serious event deserves an urgent and deep clarification by the judicial and security forces.” De Kirchner is currently in the thick of a corruption case and was coming from court when she came into contact with the crowd. She is suspected of being part in a scheme to divert public funds while she was president between 2007 to 2015. Prosecutors said de Kirchner could face up to 12 years in prison if convicted and a lifetime ban from politics. She has denied all of the charges.
