A 30-year-old Venezuelan national was arrested near the White House Thursday night after officers found him in a stolen vehicle loaded with guns and ammunition, and he reportedly told officers that voices in his head instructed him to kill President Donald Trump. Secret Service agents moved in after spotting the man acting suspiciously in a car stopped near the White House grounds.
According to the Department of Homeland Security as cited by Fox News, the man, identified as Ronny Yordrix Guanipa Chrinos, was found inside the stolen vehicle carrying multiple firearms and was reported to have threatened to kill Trump. DHS said Chrinos told officers he heard voices in his head telling him to come to the nation's capital and carry out the killing, a claim reported by Fox News and repeated across other outlets covering the arrest, including News Radio 1200 WOAI.
Guns, Ammo and a Stolen Car Near the White House
Officers said they recovered three firearms from the vehicle — an AR-15-style rifle and two handguns — along with dozens of rounds of ammunition, per Fox News’ reporting on the DHS account. Secret Service agents first noticed Chrinos behaving suspiciously in a car stopped on Constitution Avenue Thursday night, according to FOX 5 DC. The station reported that the vehicle was later determined to have been stolen out of South Carolina.
FOX 5 DC identified the suspect as Ronny Yordrix Guanipa Chrinos, 30, and reported that he was taken into custody at the scene. Fox News, citing DHS, said Chrinos entered the United States through Texas in March 2024 and was arrested at the time by U.S. Border Patrol.
Conflicting Accounts of the Charges
Exactly what Chrinos has been charged with is described differently across news reports. FOX 5 DC reported that he was charged with theft, receiving stolen property, carrying a rifle, and other firearm offenses. A separate report from WDTV described the charges differently, stating that Chrinos faces a count of carrying a rifle outside a home or business along with three counts of unlawful transportation of a firearm. Neither outlet's account has been verified against court records in the reporting reviewed for this story.
Fox News also reported, citing DHS, that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer for Chrinos with the U.S. Marshals Service, where he is currently being held. Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 871, titled “Threats against President and successors to the Presidency,” governs federal threats against the president, though the available text does not detail how, or whether, that statute applies to this case.
Secret Service Points to a Surge in Threats
The arrest comes as Secret Service Director Sean Curran has been warning publicly about a spike in threats against the people his agency protects. Curran said the agency was alarmed by the increase in threat cases that continue to arise and indicated the Secret Service would expand proactive investigations into threats against its protectees, Fox News reported.
Secret Service officials told ABC News that they have handled 10,000 threat-related cases involving protectees this year, a 40% increase compared with last year. Curran described the current threat environment as the most challenging he has ever seen, according to the same report. ABC News also noted that a shooting disrupted the White House correspondents’ dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 25, with Cole Allen, 31, accused of trying to assassinate Trump in that earlier incident.
