An armed man was arrested near the White House after allegedly telling U.S. Secret Service officers that voices in his head had instructed him to travel to Washington, D.C., and kill President Donald Trump .
An officer woke him up and approached the vehicle, initially treating the encounter as a welfare check, NBC News reported. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Following the discovery, Chrinos was arrested and faced several firearm-related and vehicle-related charges. He was also charged with possession of certain dangerous weapons, carrying a pistol without a licence, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, theft and receiving stolen property. The department highlighted the officers’ response as an important security intervention, given the alleged threats against the president and the weapons recovered from the vehicle. Following the incident, U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran expressed concern about the growing number of security threats involving individuals approaching the White House complex. He further acknowledged that officers are trained to respond to such situations but expressed concern about the frequency of these incidents.
The incident took place on Thursday, November 5, when law enforcement officers discovered multiple firearms inside the suspect’s vehicle parked near the White House , according to a statement released by the U.S. Chrinos was found asleep inside a parked blue Ford F-150 pickup truck at approximately 11:42 p.m. on Thursday, according to an affidavit filed by a Secret Service police officer.
The charges included carrying a rifle outside a home or business, three counts of unlawful transportation of a firearm, three counts involving unregistered firearms and three counts involving unregistered ammunition, according to DHS. “Thanks to our brave Secret Service officers, [the suspect] was arrested near the White House before he could harm anyone,” Mullin said. In his statement, Curran said the latest arrest reflected the increasingly challenging security environment faced by law enforcement personnel. “This incident reflects the heightened threat environment in which we operate, as well as the continued number of armed individuals who are drawn to the White House complex,” he said. “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 added.
Suspect allegedly told Secret Service he heard voices urging him to kill Trump
However, officials said the vehicle had previously been reported stolen, raising additional questions about how Chrinos had obtained possession of it. The suspect was identified as Ronny Yordrix Guanipa Chrinos, a Venezuelan national. During their interaction, Chrinos used Google Translate to communicate with the officer. He reportedly informed authorities that he had weapons inside the vehicle and wanted to surrender them to the government. The affidavit also detailed several unusual statements he allegedly made through the translation application. During the interaction, the suspect allegedly made a disturbing statement to the officers, claiming that “he heard voices in his head telling him to come to Washington , D.C. and kill President Trump. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Marshals Service. Reacting to the arrest, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin credited Secret Service personnel for identifying the potential threat and taking action before anyone was harmed.
Newly disclosed court documents have shed further light on the arrest of 26-year-old Chrinos. The recovered weapons included an AR-15-style rifle, a MAC-10 handgun and a Glock 43X pistol, along with ammunition.
DHS said he had entered the United States illegally and was taken into custody following the discovery of several weapons and ammunition inside his vehicle. “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,” Chrinos told the officer. Officers discovered three firearms and ammunition inside the pickup truck after Chrinos acknowledged that weapons were present, according to the Department of Homeland Security ( DHS ). Court documents further state that Chrinos told investigators the pickup truck belonged to his employer, who had allegedly lent it to him. Chrinos is currently being held in federal custody under the supervision of U.S, according to the DHS release.
He also claimed that he had purchased the firearms approximately a month earlier and had been living inside the vehicle.
He also allegedly explained why he had the firearms, 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.”
