The gunman who opened fire at a Secret Service checkpoint outside the White House on May 23 has been identified as 21-year-old Nasire Best of Maryland, multiple law enforcement sources said.
Fox News reported that Best had multiple prior run-ins with the Secret Service, including being detained on June 26, 2025, for flagging down agents and making threats, and arrested on July 10, 2025, for entering a restricted area.
Court records from the July 2025 incident show Best ignored warning signs and commands to stop, bypassed a restricted pedestrian access control post by walking through an exit lane, and was arrested for unlawful entry. According to the D.C. Superior Court filing, he “claimed he was Jesus Christ and that he wanted to get arrested.”
Trump addressed the incident in a post on Truth Social, thanking the Secret Service and law enforcement for their “swift and professional action” against a gunman near the White House who he said had “a violent history and possible obsession with our Country's most cherished structure.”
“The gunman is dead after an exchange of gunfire with Secret Service Agents near the White House gates,” Trump wrote.
Trump also referenced the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting one month earlier, arguing the latest incident demonstrated “how important it is for all future Presidents to get what will be the safest and most secure space of its kind ever built in Washington, D.C.”
“The National Security of our Country demands it!” he added.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 24, 2026
As Zeale News previously reported, the incident comes nearly a month after a shooting at the White House Correspondents dinner.