Three Guns Found in Pickup Near White House

A blue Ford F-150 parked near the White House held an AR-15-style rifle, two handguns and dozens of rounds of ammunition. Secret Service officers approached the pickup on Constitution Avenue on Thursday after noticing suspicious activity, then arrested Venezuelan national Ronny Yordrix Guanipa Chrinos, 26. The Department of Homeland Security says he told officers that voices urged him to come to Washington and kill President Donald Trump. ^1,3

The pickup was reported stolen, and officers say Chrinos told them there were weapons inside. A court affidavit describes other statements: he allegedly used Google Translate to say he had guns he wanted to hand over and that the truck belonged to his boss. He also said he had bought the weapons about a month earlier and had been living in the vehicle, according to the affidavit. The weapons were identified as an AR-15-style rifle, a MAC-10 and a Glock 43X. ^3,5

The affidavit’s silence on the alleged threat matters: DHS has described Chrinos’s reported words, but the court document cited by one report does not include them. He faces charges for firearms and stolen property, not attempted murder or assassination, according to a report detailing the listed counts. Officials are also using the case to frame immigration enforcement: DHS says Chrinos entered through Texas in March 2024, was arrested by Border Patrol and later released.^4,5 The White House is both the president’s home and workplace, making an armed person nearby a serious security concern, even as investigators’ account of the alleged motive remains unproven.

The next step is a federal court appearance expected Monday, while prosecutors review the evidence, according to a federal law enforcement source cited by NBC. Chrinos remained in custody Friday after appearing in D.C. Superior Court, and ICE lodged a detainer with the U.S. Marshals Service. Whether prosecutors bring more charges will depend on their review; the charges reported so far concern weapons and property. ⁵