An illegal immigrant from Venezuela was taken into custody near the White House on Thursday after authorities say he was found in a stolen vehicle stocked with firearms and allegedly threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The confrontation unfolded Thursday evening when U.S. Secret Service officers noticed the man acting suspicious in his car while it was parked on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., DHS told Fox News. According to Fox News, the encounter quickly escalated into a serious security incident once officers began questioning the suspect and examining the vehicle.
DHS officials said the man told officers that he heard voices in his head telling him to come to the nation's capital and kill Trump. Investigators then learned the vehicle had been reported stolen, and the suspect acknowledged that he had weapons inside the car.
A subsequent search turned up a small arsenal, including three firearms and a significant amount of ammunition. Officers reported recovering three firearms, including an AR-15-style rifle and two handguns, along with dozens of rounds of ammunition.
Authorities identified the suspect as Ronny Yordrix Guanipa Chrinos, a Venezuelan national who illegally entered the country through Texas in March 2024 and was subsequently arrested by U.S. Border Patrol, according to officials. Despite that arrest, He was later released into the country under the Biden administration, a decision likely to intensify criticism of the White Houses border and immigration policies.
Following Thursdays incident, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) filed an immigration detainer for Chrinos with the U.S. Marshals Service, where he remains in custody. The case underscores how lapses in immigration enforcement can intersect with national security risks in the heart of the nations capital.
The U.S. Secret Service said the episode highlights a rising danger from armed individuals drawn to the White House complex. 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, U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran said in a statement.
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 continued. The Secret Service will continue expanding our focus on proactively investigating and identifying individuals who make threats to our protectees, in order to disrupt threats before they arrive in Washington.
The incident raises renewed questions about the Biden administrations decision to release illegal immigrants into the interior and whether current vetting and monitoring are adequate to protect high-profile political figures and the public. This is a developing story, and further details about Chrinos background, mental health, and immigration history are likely to fuel an already heated debate over border security and the consequences of lax enforcement.
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