The “stars” did not align
Another memorable night at the White House correspondents’ dinner. This time for gunshots in the lobby rather than cheap shots from the dais.
“Trump and Media Unharmed After Attack; Officials Swarm Suspect’s Home,” reads a headline on The New York Times landing page.
Journalists, media executives, celebrities, Trump administration officials, and others had assembled Saturday evening and taken their seats in the ballroom on the lower level of the Washington Hilton. Donald Trump had entered to “Hail to the Chief” and was situated on the stage. It was his first time attending as president. Waiters were clearing salad plates. A banner over the stage read “Celebrating the first amendment.”
Then, The Washington Post reports, “loud popping sounds” came from the lobby:
“I thought it was a tray going down,” Trump would say later.
For the third time in less than two years, Trump found himself under the threat of gunfire. Hundreds of people — table after table — dove to the floor, reporters huddling next to Trump officials and other dinner guests, some draped by white linen tablecloths, others pressed up against the ballroom’s walls.
“Get down, get down!” someone yelled out.
At the front of the room, Secret Service officers first rushed Vice President JD Vance off the stage, then Trump a few seconds later. Other officials in the line of succession, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, were quickly whisked away, too.
Men in tuxes and women in gowns ducked to the floor. Secret Service and security officers swarmed across the ballroom, some shouting, “Clear a path! Clear a path!” as they hustled officials from the room. Trump et al. retreated to secure locations.
The Times reports:
No one had a hint as to what was going on — except that Mr. Trump had been rushed from the stage, which was now occupied by a pair of security officials brandishing large guns. (Later in the evening, officials said that an armed man had charged a security checkpoint and that a Secret Service officer had been shot.)
Somebody came to celebrate his Second Amendment.
The Nerd Prom got cancelled quicker than Elon Musk shut down USAID. The “in” crowd got shown out. “Chaos and Confusion,” declares Politico’s headline.
Meaning just another day in Trump’s Washington. Trump later used the incident to pitch his proposed ballroom with its bulletproof glass. He’d prepared “the most inappropriate speech ever,” but now he’d have to shelve it.
“I don’t know if I could ever be as rough as I was going to be tonight. I think I’m going to be probably very nice,” Trump said. “I’ll be boring the next time.”
A California man is in custody, reports The Guardian:
The suspect was in custody and being “evaluated” at a local hospital, though he did not appear to have been struck by gunfire. He was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, the Associated Press reported, citing two law enforcement officials.
Jeffrey Carroll, the DC police chief, said investigators believed the suspect fired a shot and was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and knives. He also said the suspect was believed to have been a guest at the hotel. A motive for the attack had not yet emerged, officials said.
Jeanine Pirro, a US attorney for the District of Columbia, said the defendant was being charged with two counts of felony firearms and assault charges and would be arraigned on Monday. She expected more charges to follow.
Al Jazeera offers this preliminary background on the suspect:
Facebook posts appearing to be linked to Allen indicate he was recognised as “Teacher of the Month” in December 2024 by the Torrance branch of C2 Education, a national private tutoring and test-preparation company for college-bound students.
A LinkedIn profile under the suspect’s name describes him as a “mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth”.
I’ve been to many less opulent “rubber chicken” dinners, and a couple in that ballroom. My neurons fire funny. The Times headline about officials “swarming” the suspect’s home immediately brought to mind chicken “swarm-a.”
Update: Of course, they did. Helluva choir.