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Esteban Santiago,
26, wore shackles and a red jail jumpsuit at his arraignment
hearing in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, near the airport
where the Jan. 6 shooting occurred.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Seltzer read aloud the 22 criminal
counts Santiago faces, emphasizing the names of those killed.
Santiago is charged with violence at an airport causing death
and injury, as well as firearms crimes.
"Yes," said Santiago, acknowledging the charges, some of which
are punishable by life imprisonment or death if he is convicted.
The U.S. Attorney General will decide whether to seek a death
sentence.
Prosecutors say Santiago planned the shooting, which also left
six people wounded. They accuse him of aiming at victims' heads
and bodies at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International
Airport until he ran out of ammunition. He was immediately taken
into custody.
Santiago, who served in Iraq from 2010 to 2011, had a history of
erratic behavior. Authorities have said they were investigating
whether mental illness played a role in the attack.
Santiago traveled from Alaska to Florida on a one-way airline
ticket with a handgun and ammunition in his checked luggage, a
criminal complaint said. Upon arrival, he claimed his gun case
and loaded the weapon in a men's bathroom, then opened fire on
the first people he encountered after exiting, it noted.
Santiago told investigators he was inspired by Islamic State and
had previously chatted online with Islamist extremists,
according to FBI testimony presented in court.
(Reporting by Zachary Fagenson; Writing by Letitia Stein;
Editing by Colleen Jenkins and James Dalgleish)
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