The Secret Service has arrested near the White House an “illegal alien” of Venezuelan origin who was carrying several firearms and who claimed that “he heard voices in his head” that ordered him to kill the president of the United States, Donald Trump.
The individual, identified as Ronny Yordrix Guanipa Chrinos, was intercepted Thursday afternoon inside a car parked on Constitution Avenue, in Washington, after Secret Service agents warned that “he was acting in a suspicious manner.”
“This illegal foreign criminal entered our country because of the Administration (of Joe) Biden and said that he heard voices in his head that told him to kill President Trump,” the Department of Homeland Security said in an official statement.
The tourism lodging in which he was located was reported as stolen and the suspect admitted that he carried weapons, including a rifle, as well as dozens of cartridges, which is why he was subdued and handcuffed. The arsenal includes an AR-15 type rifle and two pistols, one Mac 10 and one Glock 43X.
Chrinos faces charges for possession of a rifle in front of a residence or business, three offenses of illegal carrying of a firearm, three charges for unlicensed firearms, three more for unregistered ammunition, possession of dangerous weapons, carrying a pistol without a license, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, theft and receiving stolen property.
“Thanks to our brave Secret Service agents, this illegal foreigner who had three firearms in his vehicle has been detained near the White House before he could cause harm to anyone,” emphasized the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin.
Mullin has drawn attention to the “continuous number of armed individuals who are drawn to the White House.” “We are alarmed by the increase in the number of cases of threats,” he added.
According to authorities, Chrinos entered U.S. territory “illegally” through the Texas border in March 2024 and was arrested by Border Patrol, but later “was released in our country by the Biden Administration.”
Trump has suffered several assassination attempts, the most serious when a sniper opened fire during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024, an attack in which a member of the White House staff died and three people were injured, including Trump himself.
In April, another armed man managed to gain access to the Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, an act at which Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, were present. The suspect was subdued, although a Secret Service agent ended up injured.