Gunman Who Claimed He Was Jesus Christ Opened Fire On White House Checkpoint, Neutered p By Secret Service

xBy Joe Marino and Daniel Cody

Published May 23, 2026

Updated May 23, 2026, 6:30 p.m. PDT

A crazed gunman who believed he was Jesus Christ pulled out a revolver and opened fire outside the White House Saturday night, before he was quickly taken down by a barrage shots from the Secret Service, sources said.

Nasire Best, 21, fired at a checkpoint at about 6:10 p.m. after being seen pacing in a strange manner up and down 17th St. Northwest, sources told The Post. He only got off a few shots before he was shot and killed in a hail of bullets from federal officers.

At least one bystander was hit and seriously wounded in the fusillade, the sources said.

Nasir Best, 21, opened fire on a White House checkpoint on Saturday evening.

While a motive for the attack hasn’t been confirmed, sources said Best is a mentally troubled individual who was well-known to the Secret Service for repeatedly loitering around various entry posts and who has violated a previous court order to stay away from the White House.

“FBI is on the scene and supporting Secret Service responding to shots fired near White House grounds – we will update the public as we’re able,” FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X.

The sound of shots from the incident terrifed members of the press who were doing their normal reporting at the White House, including one ABC reporter who was seen diving for cover during a live stream.

“I was in the middle of taping on my iPhone for a social video from the White House North Lawn when we heard the shots,” said Selina Wang, a senior ABC White House correspondent.

“It sounded like dozens of gunshots. We were told to sprint to the press briefing room where we are holding now.”

Secret Service quickly put the White House on lockdown and told reporters to gather on the north lawn and to run into the press briefing room. After about half an hour, the lockdown was lifted. The shots rang out a little less than two hours after President Trump announced on Truth Social that he was in the Oval Office working on a peace deal with Iran.

Best, who was taken down by members of the Secret Service Uniformed Division, had previously been involuntarily committed on June 26, 2025, for obstructing vehicular traffic at 15th Street and E Street NW, before being arrested again on July 10, 2025, for Unlawful Entry. 

A civilian who was near by was apparently hit in the fusillade, Fox News reported.

After the sound of numerous shots rang out, members of the press who were filming on the White House grounds were seen diving for cover and were told by Secret Service to gather on the north lawn and to run into the press briefing room.

In that incident, Best bypassed a restricted White House pedestrian control post by walking through an exit turnstile lane — and made crazed statements when D.C. police and Secret Service agents detained him.

“[Best] claimed he was Jesus Christ and that he wanted to get arrested,” court records of the incident said. 

While it wasn’t known if the shooting has any political motive, leaders from both sides of the aisle voiced condemnation of political violence after the incident, which is only the latest gunfire in the proximity of President Trump in recent weeks.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R–LA) expressed gratitude for the “brave Secret Service agents who took quick, decisive action to protect President Trump, and our prayers are with victims of tonight’s senseless shooting for a speedy recovery.”

Echoing Mike Johnson, Rep. Cory Mills (R–FL) said that “there is no place in America for political violence, and every leader should be condemning it unequivocally.”

Rep. Betty Column (D–MN) strongly condemned the shooting and pushed for the public to “unite behind a common belief that our differences should be resolved at the ballot box.”

Saturday’s incident marks the latest flashpoint in a volatile wave of domestic political violence.

The shots rang out about a month after a lone gunman opened fired a the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, where Trump was in attendance. Another lone gunman tried to assassinate Trump, and even knicked him in his ear, in a shooting at a campaign rally in July 2024.

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