President Donald Trump said a man charged the security checkpoint at the White House correspondents’ dinner with multiple weapons and shot one Secret Service officer before being taken down by other officers.
The suspect, who is in custody and has been widely identified as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old teacher from Los Angeles, California, charged the Washington Hilton checkpoint from 50 feet away. He then shot a Secret Service officer, but the bullet hit his bulletproof vest. He is recovering, and Trump said he spoke with him.
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“[The suspect] was taken down by some very brave members of Secret Service, and they acted very quickly, and have just released, for purposes of transparency, clarity … a tape showing the violence of this thug that attacked our Constitution and also showing how quickly Secret Service and law enforcement acted on our country’s behalf, really did a great job,” Trump said Saturday evening at a press conference after the event.
The shooting occurred just after the first course of the dinner. Attendees immediately ducked under tables after shots were heard outside the ballroom.
“I saw a room that was just totally unified. It was, in one way, very beautiful,” Trump, still in his tux he wore during the event, said.
Allen, the suspect, is a lone wolf, according to Trump.
“He was a guy who looked pretty evil when he was down. … He was fighting hard,” the president said. “He was, in my opinion, a sick person. Who would do that, but a sick person?”
“He was fast he was running full blast and they got him,” he added.
More information about Allen is expected to come out in the coming days.
The FBI is investigating the scene, including the long gun that was recovered from Allen’s person, according to FBI Director Kash Patel.
Trump said he wanted to continue with the event but was prevented by law enforcement who said escorting attendees out was necessary protocol. Journalists who remained in the Hilton ballroom were told there was a possibility the dinner would resume, before later being told to leave the premises.
“We very much wanted to continue it, because I don’t like to let these sick people, these thugs, these horrible, horrible people change the fabric of our life, change the course of what we do,” Trump said. “So we hold, held after you were there. We held out right till the end, but they didn’t want to take a chance. And I understand it was protocol, but we’re going to be doing one hopefully within the next 30 days or sooner.”
Trump used the moment to justify his White House ballroom project for security purposes.
“And I will say, you know, it’s not a particularly secure building,” he said, referring to the Washington Hilton. “And I didn’t want to say this, but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House. It’s actually a larger room, and it’s much more secure. It’s got, it’s drone-proof, it’s bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom. That’s why Secret Service, that’s why the military are demanding it.”
TRUMP AND CABINET MEMBERS EVACUATED FROM CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER AFTER SHOOTING
Administration officials celebrated the actions of the law enforcement on the scene, saying they acted quickly to secure the president and vice president.
“Tonight you saw the very worst and the very best of this country. You saw the very worst by the actions of that coward that the president just talked about but you also saw the very best, because you saw law enforcement do exactly what they’re supposed to do,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at the press conference.
