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Nasire Best update: Shooter's multiple past encounters with Secret Service revealed as first photo surfaces
Nasire Best was “known to the Secret Service” for “walking around the White House complex inquiring how to gain access at various entry points.”
A photo of Nasire Best, the 21-year-old man shot and killed by agents outside the White House on Saturday, May 23, has surfaced after the shooting. He is seen in what appears to be a mugshot obtained by the New York Post.
Take a look:
CNN reported that Best had encounters with the Secret Service in the past, according to court records. He was killed after he approached a checkpoint outside the White House and began shooting at officers. A bystander was hit in the exchange.
Donald Trump was in the White House at the time. He was unharmed.
Nasire Best’s previous encounters with the Secret Service
Last summer, officers had encountered Best several times, according to a court affidavit, which says he was “known to the Secret Service” for “walking around the White House complex inquiring how to gain access at various entry points.” The documents said that he was involuntarily committed on June 26, 2025, for “obstructing vehicle entry” to part of the White House complex.
Best ignored warning signs on July 10 last year and walked into a restricted area outside the White House, per the affidavit. There, several officers confronted him. Best claimed he was Jesus and said “that he wanted to get arrested,” the report said.
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A motive for the latest shooting has not been confirmed. However, sources said that Best is a mentally troubled person, per the New York Post.
Trump posted a statement on Truth Social after the shooting, thanking the Secret Service and law enforcement for handling the situation well.
“Thank you to our great Secret Service and Law Enforcement for the swift and professional action taken this evening against a gunman near the White House, who had a violent history and possible obsession with our Country’s most cherished structure,” Trump wrote.
“The gunman is dead after an exchange of gunfire with Secret Service Agents near the White House gates. This event is one month removed from the White House Correspondent’Dinner shooting, and goes to show how important it is, for all future Presidents, to get, what will be, the most safe and secure space of its kind ever built in Washington, D.C. The National Security of our Country demands it!” he added.
