Secret Service officers arrested a Venezuelan man late Thursday night in a vehicle parked on Constitution Avenue near the White House after finding three firearms and ammunition inside and after he allegedly said voices in his head told him to come to Washington to kill President Donald Trump.1,2,3,4,7
The Department of Homeland Security identified the man as Ronny Yordrix Guanipa Chrinos and said he was in the country illegally after entering through Texas in March 2024. The arrest, announced by the department on Friday, has drawn statements from Homeland Security and Secret Service leaders about threats to the president and about armed people approaching the White House complex.1,2,3,4,7
Officers recovered an AR-15-style rifle, a MAC-10 and a Glock 43X handgun, along with dozens of rounds of ammunition, according to the department. The New York Post described the seizure as three firearms including an AR-15-style rifle and two handguns, while the department accounts cited by other outlets specified the rifle as an AR-15-style rifle and the handguns as a MAC-10 and a Glock 43X pistol.1,2,3,4,7
Officers approached the vehicle after seeing behavior they described as suspicious. A Secret Service affidavit filed in court says Chrinos was asleep in a parked blue Ford F-150 when officers woke him at 11:42 p.m. Thursday on Constitution Avenue, while the department described the encounter as Thursday evening. CBS News reported, citing a law enforcement source, that the incident took place in the 1600 block of Constitution Avenue NW, near the Ellipse.1,2,3,4,7
At first officers treated the encounter as a welfare check, according to the affidavit. When an officer knocked on the window and asked if he was all right and whether he had weapons, Chrinos shook his head yes and made a finger gun gesture, the affidavit says. He then used Google Translate to communicate with officers, telling them he had weapons he wanted to turn over to the government and saying, "I have the gun because they tried to kill me with it, and I had to take it away from them; it's in the brown bag," according to the affidavit.3,7
The department said the vehicle had been reported stolen and that Chrinos told officers there were weapons inside. "When they confronted the suspect, he said that he heard voices in his head telling him to come to Washington, D.C. and kill President Trump," the department said in a statement. ABC News noted that the affidavit describing the stop did not include those alleged remarks about voices and Trump.1,2,3,4,7
According to the department, Chrinos illegally crossed the southern border into Texas in March 2024 and was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol before being released into the country under the Biden administration. CBS News said he entered through Texas in March 2024, was arrested by Border Patrol and was later released, while ABC News said he entered through Texas in 2024 and is undocumented.1,2,4,7
He faces weapons and vehicle charges including unlawful transportation of a firearm, carrying unregistered firearms and ammunition, possession of certain dangerous weapons, carrying a pistol without a license, carrying a rifle without a license, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, theft and receiving stolen property, with the counts described in slightly different terms across the accounts. He made an initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court on Friday and remains held without bond, according to online court records, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer against him with the U.S. Marshals Service, which has him in custody.2,4,7,1
"Thanks to our brave Secret Service officers, this illegal alien with three firearms in his vehicle was arrested near the White House before he could harm anyone," Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said. "On top of threatening President Trump, he is an illegal alien from Venezuela who had no business being in our country in the first place," Mullin said.2,4
"This is the latest example of Secret Service personnel relying on extensive training and experience to deescalate a volatile situation that posed an imminent threat to our protectees and other Americans," Secret Service Director Sean Curran said in a statement. "While our personnel are trained to respond to situations like this and we remain confident in our tactics, we are alarmed by the increase in threat cases that continue to arise," Curran said. "The Secret Service will continue expanding our focus on proactively investigating and identifying individuals who make threats to our protectees, in order to disrupt threats before they arrive in Washington," he said.1,2,4
The Secret Service said the incident reflects a concern about armed individuals drawn to the White House complex. Trump has been the target of earlier attacks and alleged plots, including a shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024 in which a gunman fired from a nearby roof, killing attendee Corey Comperatore and wounding Trump and others, and the arrest in September 2024 of Ryan Routh after a Secret Service agent saw him near Trump's golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. CBS News also cited an April incident in which a gunman breached security during the White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton while Trump and first lady Melania Trump attended, leaving a Secret Service officer wounded, and the Daily Wire cited an April attempt to storm that dinner and a May episode in which Secret Service personnel shot and killed a man who opened fire on a White House checkpoint.2,4
It was not immediately clear if Chrinos had an attorney. He remains held without bond, and Curran said the Secret Service would expand efforts to identify and investigate people who threaten its protectees before they reach Washington.4,7,1,2
