Secret Service officers arrested a Venezuelan man near the White House late Thursday after finding three guns in his stolen pickup. He told them voices in his head ordered him to kill President Donald Trump.

Key Points

  • Secret Service officers arrested Ronny Yordrix Guanipa Chrinos, 26, late on Thursday on Constitution Avenue near the White House, after finding three guns in a stolen blue Ford F-150.
  • Homeland Security says he told officers he heard voices in his head telling him to come to Washington and kill President Donald Trump.
  • The weapons were an AR-15-style rifle, a MAC-10 machine pistol and a Glock 43X pistol, with dozens of rounds of ammunition.
  • He entered the United States illegally through Texas in March 2024, was arrested by Border Patrol and later released. Immigration officers have now lodged a detainer against him.
  • He appeared in a Washington court on Friday and was ordered held without bond. He is in US Marshals Service custody and is expected in federal court on Monday.

What happened in the White House arrest

Officers first went to the truck to check on the man asleep inside. A Secret Service officer on patrol had spotted him in a parked blue Ford F-150 on Constitution Avenue, close to the White House complex, and walked over at 11.42pm on Thursday, 5 November, according to the affidavit filed in court.

When the officers spoke to him, he nodded and made a finger-gun gesture when asked whether he had weapons. Using Google Translate, he told an officer he had weapons in the vehicle and wanted to hand them over to the government. The affidavit records him saying: “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.” He added: “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.”

The search that followed found an AR-15-style rifle, a MAC-10 machine pistol and a Glock 43X pistol, along with dozens of rounds of ammunition. Officers then learned the truck was listed as stolen. Chrinos told investigators the truck belonged to his boss, who had lent it to him, and that he had bought the weapons about a month earlier. According to the affidavit, the truck was where he had been living.

On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security announced the arrest and added the detail that has driven the story. “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 said in a news release. “The officers then discovered that the vehicle had been reported stolen, and the suspect admitted to having weapons in his vehicle.”

He now faces a long list of charges: carrying a rifle outside a home or business; three counts each of unlawful transportation of a firearm, possession of unregistered firearms and possession of unregistered ammunition; possession of certain dangerous weapons; carrying a pistol without a licence; unauthorised use of a motor vehicle; theft; and receiving stolen property.

The statement and the affidavit

The “voices” claim needs care. It appears in Homeland Security’s public statement, but not in the criminal complaint filed in court, ABC News reported. The affidavit describes the encounter, the weapons and what Chrinos said through the translation app. It does not include the claim about voices, or any plan to kill the president.

That gap matters. Authorities have not publicly established whether Chrinos had a specific plan to attack the president, or whether he had tried to enter the White House complex. The charges filed so far are about the guns and the truck, not about a threat.

One detail also differs between early reports. Some gave his age as 30. The court affidavit says 26, and that is the figure used here.

Why it matters

The Secret Service is treating the arrest as part of a wider pattern, not a one-off. “This is the latest example of Secret Service personnel relying on extensive training and experience to deescalate a volatile situation that posed an imminent threat to our protectees and other Americans,” said Secret Service Director Sean Curran. “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.”

Curran added: “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.”

The agency says the White House has seen a significant rise in incidents involving mental health issues, with the presidency acting as a focal point for people in crisis. In May, Secret Service officers shot and killed a man with previous mental health issues after he opened fire near a security checkpoint at the White House. He is not the first. Since Trump returned to office, officers have arrested a string of people accused of threatening him or his family.

The case also lands in the middle of the immigration debate. Chrinos entered the United States illegally through Texas in March 2024, was arrested by Border Patrol and later released. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has now lodged a detainer, asking that he stay in custody for immigration proceedings. The arrest comes days after Trump named Stephen Miller, the architect of his immigration crackdown, as his new chief of staff. Stephen Miller, named chief of staff this week. It also comes in a week when Trump confirmed fresh US strikes on Iran, keeping the White House on a war footing at home and abroad. Trump confirmed fresh US strikes on Iran.

What happens next

A Washington judge ordered him held without bond at his first court appearance on Friday. He remains in the custody of the US Marshals Service. A federal law enforcement source said prosecutors were reviewing the evidence and that he was expected to appear in federal court on Monday. It was not clear whether he had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.

What prosecutors do next will decide how big this case becomes. The firearms and vehicle charges already filed are serious on their own. Whether they add a threat charge will depend on evidence beyond the department’s statement — and on what the affidavit does not say.

Either way, the Secret Service has made its view plain: the threat cases keep coming, and the officers on Constitution Avenue on Thursday night stopped one of them with minutes to spare.

Sources: CNN; Times Now; The Hindu; Firstpost; The Statesman (IANS) with ABC News; The Jerusalem Post; The Economic Times. Published 7 November 2026.