Venezuelan man who said voices told him to kill Trump is arrested near White House, DHS says

A Venezuelan man who had guns in his vehicle and told officers that voices in his head urged him to kill President Donald Trump was arrested Thursday near the White House, the federal government said.

The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that Ronny Yordrix Guanipa Chrinos was approached by Secret Service officers who alleged he was acting suspiciously while parked on Constitution Avenue.

“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 of Homeland Security said in a statement.

A photo shared by the Department of Homeland Security showing weapons and ammunition retrieved from a suspect’s car near the White House.DHS

Chrinos, who federal officials said was in the country illegally, was in a vehicle that had been reported stolen, officials said. He told officers there were weapons inside, and officers then found an AR-15 style rifle, a Mac 10 handgun, a Glock 43X pistol, and ammunition, DHS said.

A Secret Service police officer affidavit filed in court says that Chrinos, 26, was asleep in a parked blue Ford F-150 when he was woken and confronted by officers at 11:42 p.m. Thursday.

At first, officers treated it as a welfare check, but Chrinos used Google Translate to tell an officer that he had weapons he wanted to turn over to the government, the affidavit says.

Chirnos also said through Google Translate: “I have the item they wanted to kill me over, along with the outfit to go with it; if you want, I can hand it over without putting up any resistance,” the affidavit says.

According to the court document, he also allegedly said through the app: “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.”

Chirnos told investigators that the truck belonged to his boss, who had lent it to him, the affidavit said. He also said he had bought the weapons a month ago and had been living in the vehicle.

Chrinos was charged with carrying a rifle outside a home or business; three counts of unlawful transportation of a firearm; three counts of unregistered firearms; three counts of unregistered ammunition, DHS said.

He was also charged with one count each of possession of certain dangerous weapons, carrying a pistol without a license, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, theft, and receiving stolen property, the department said.

A federal law enforcement source said that prosecutors are reviewing the evidence against Chrinos and that he will be in federal court on Monday.

He was in custody Friday, DHS said. It was not clear if he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

DHS said Chrinos entered into the U.S. illegally in 2024, was arrested by Border Patrol, and later released.

DHS did not provide further details about his case.

Secret Service Director Sean Curran said the arrest highlights the agents’ training and aim to de-escalte volatile situations.

“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 in a statement.