Secret Service Arrests Armed Man Near White House Who Said Voices Told Him to Kill Trump

The U.S. Secret Service arrested a man near the White House on Thursday night after officers found three firearms and dozens of rounds of ammunition in a stolen vehicle, and the man told officers he had heard voices telling him to kill President Donald Trump.

Ronny Yordrix Guanipa Chrinos, a Venezuelan national, was approached by a Secret Service officer on patrol on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., at about 11:42 p.m. on November 5, after the officer noticed him acting suspiciously inside a parked blue Ford F-150. When questioned, he told officers that voices in his head had directed him to travel to Washington and kill Trump, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security.

Officers then discovered that the vehicle had been reported stolen. A search uncovered an AR-15-style rifle, a MAC-10 machine pistol and a Glock 43X handgun, along with dozens of rounds of ammunition.

Guanipa Chrinos faces multiple firearms and vehicle-related charges, including carrying a rifle outside a home or business, three counts of unlawful transportation of a firearm, three counts of possessing unregistered firearms and three counts of possessing unregistered ammunition, as well as unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and receiving stolen property. He appeared before the District of Columbia Superior Court on Friday and was ordered held without bond.

He remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed an immigration detainer against him. The Department of Homeland Security said Guanipa Chrinos entered the United States illegally through Texas in March 2024 and was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol before being released into the country.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin praised Secret Service officers for intervening before anyone was harmed, and Secret Service Director Sean Curran said the incident demonstrated the agency's training and efforts to de-escalate potentially dangerous situations.

Authorities have not publicly established whether the suspect had a specific plan to attack the president or had attempted to enter the White House complex. The allegation about the voices was included in the department's public statement but did not appear in the criminal complaint describing the encounter, according to ABC News.