Suspect in D.C.: Venezuelan man arrested near White House with rifles
Authorities say Ronny Yordrix Guanipa Chrinos, 26, claimed voices told him to kill President Trump.
By Bianca Herrera ·
Ronny Yordrix Guanipa Chrinos was arrested near the White House on Thursday night after Secret Service officers found multiple firearms in his vehicle. The Venezuelan national, who is 26 years old, told agents that he was in the country illegally and had been living in a stolen truck. He stated that voices in his head urged him to travel to Washington, D.C., to kill President Donald Trump.
The incident began at 11:42 p.m. on Thursday when officers approached Chrinos, who was asleep in a blue Ford F-150 parked on Constitution Avenue. Agents initially treated the stop as a welfare check. Chrinos used Google Translate on a phone to explain that he possessed weapons he wanted to surrender. He described the items as belonging to a brown bag and said he had taken them from a boss who lent him the truck. Officials said he had purchased the guns a month earlier.
Officers located an AR-15 style rifle, a MAC-10 handgun, a Glock 43X pistol, and ammunition inside the vehicle. A Secret Service affidavit filed in court quotes Chrinos saying, “I have the gun because they tried to kill me with it, and I had to take it away from them.” He also mentioned having “the item they wanted to kill me over” along with an outfit to match it. He offered to hand over the items without resistance.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the arrest on Friday. The agency confirmed that Chrinos entered the United States illegally in 2024. Border Patrol had previously arrested him but later released him. DHS did not provide additional details regarding his prior immigration case or the specific circumstances of his release.
Chrinos faces multiple federal charges related to the firearms found in his possession. These include carrying a rifle outside a home or business, three counts of unlawful transportation of a firearm, and three counts of unregistered firearms. He also faces three counts of unregistered ammunition, possession of dangerous weapons, and carrying a pistol without a license. Additional charges include unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, theft, and receiving stolen property.
Secret Service Director Sean Curran commented on the arrest, stating that the agents’ training allowed them to de-escalate the volatile situation. He expressed alarm at the increase in threat cases while maintaining confidence in the department's tactics. Curran noted, “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.”
Chrinos remains in federal custody as of Friday. Prosecutors are currently reviewing the evidence against him. He is scheduled to appear in federal court on Monday. It is not yet clear if he has retained an attorney to represent him during the proceedings.
