The US acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, on Sunday said that the gunman who tried to breach the ballroom at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is believed to have been targeting members of the Trump administration, including President Donald Trump himself.
Speaking to NBC, Blanche said officials believe the suspect travelled by train from California to Chicago and then on to Washington, where he checked in as a guest at the Washington Hilton, where one of the US capital’s glitziest events was being held on Saturday night.
“It does appear that he did, in fact, have set out to target folks that work in the administration, likely including the President,” he said.
The acting AG also informed that the suspect will be formally charged in federal court on Monday with assault of a federal officer and discharging a firearm in an attempt to kill a federal officer, adding that he was not cooperating with investigators as of Sunday morning.
Investigators have not publicly named the suspect, but two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter have identified him to The Associated Press as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California.
White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting
A video showed Donald Trump in the middle of a conversation at the Washington Hilton when he was interrupted by a commotion at the White House table. Loud bangs could be heard in the background. Several Secret Service members then escorted Trump away from the venue as they called out “stay down, stay down”.
Stephen Miller, Trump’s top adviser, was also seen being escorted from the crowd and out of the venue. Senior administration officials like Pete Hegseth were also escorted out by their security details. FBI Director Kash Patel was evacuated from the room after about five gunshots were heard, according to the BBC.
Several attendees were seen crouching down during the chaos, but remained inside after the president was evacuated. Trump later said in a Truth Social post that the shooter had been apprehended.
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we “LET THE SHOW GO ON” but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement. They will make a decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again,” wrote Trump.
What Trump said about the shooting and the motive
Trump recalled what he was thinking as the shots rang out. The US President said he initially believed it was a tray that had been dropped. The noise was “quite far away,” he said, adding that Melania was “very cognizant” that it was a shooting.
“I think she knew immediately what happened,” Trump said, recalling that his wife told him, “That’s a bad noise.”
The president said the motivation of the shooter was unclear, but said that “he was a guy who looked pretty evil when he was down.”
