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All posts tagged "white house correspondents dinner"

Journalist dismantles Trump admin’s narrative on WHCD shooting: ‘Don’t see a muzzle flash’

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., released video Thursday of the suspected White House Correspondents’ Dinner gunman rushing a security checkpoint and insisted it showed him “shoot a U.S. Secret Service officer,” but on Friday, MS NOW’s Ken Dilanian raised serious questions about that claim.

“This suspect is in a room, and there's an officer with a canine that appears to be interested in following him, but the officer pulls the canine back,” Dilanian said, reviewing the video captured at the Washington Hilton on April 25.

“A second later, the suspect rushes out of the room, sprints through the metal detector past the first tranche of officers, and the question is whether he fired his shotgun on that video," Dilanian explained.

The suspected gunman, who has since been identified as Cole Tomas Allen and was charged with the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, was seen in the aforementioned video rushing through a security checkpoint past several law enforcement officials. One officer in the video can clearly be seen discharging their firearm several times in the direction of Allen.

And, while Pirro insisted that the video showed Allen shooting a Secret Service officer – with one Secret Service officer hospitalized for being shot – Dilanian pointed to several inconsistencies that were visible in the video that suggested Allen may have not discharged his weapon at all.

“Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., asserts that this video shows him firing a shotgun, but you don't see a muzzle flash,” Dilanian said.

“There is some evidence of a disturbance in the ceiling that some people have interpreted as potentially the firing of a shot, but this is a big deal because it's a question of whether he shot – he hasn't been charged with actually shooting an officer. And then the question about whether the Secret Service agent who was hit in the vest was actually hit with a part of a buckshot from this man's shotgun," he added.

Questions have swirled surrounding the security lapses at the event. Remarks made moments before the incident sparked an online frenzy, while additional scrutiny followed reports that journalists were permitted to move freely through the scene within hours.

“This video is really not definitive,” Dilanian continued. “Still up in the air – we haven't seen conclusive ballistics that shows that he actually fired a shot. And the second question, whether, if he did, if any of the fragments of that buckshot struck that agent who was hit in the vest.”

Pirro won't say if gunman hit Secret Service: 'The agent did not shoot himself'

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, declined to definitively say that a gunman at the White House Correspondents' Dinner shot a Secret Service agent.

During a Thursday interview on Fox News, anchor Dana Perino revealed that the network's sources were told that the gunman, Cole Allen, shot an agent when he discharged his shotgun at the Washington D.C. Hilton on Saturday.

"Do you know if Cole Allen fired it or if it discharged accidentally?" Pirro asked.

"I don't think there's any question but that Cole Allen was intending to fire that Mossberg," Pirro replied. "And what we do know is that he fired off that 12-gauge shotgun one time. The cartridge was still in the weapon. He fired that gun in the direction of the Secret Service officer."

The U.S. attorney noted that one of the Secret Service officers fired his weapon five times.

"We know it based on the fact that we found five areas consistent with being hit by a 9mm," she said. "So the Secret Service agent did not shoot himself. And you've got Cole Allen going there, shooting off one round. And I don't think there's any question of what happened here."

"We're waiting for the official ballistics test, but at the same time, we filed papers in court this morning for the detention hearing today, indicating that this defendant was calculated, he was premeditated, he had every intention of killing the president and anyone who got in his way."

MAGA loyalists tear into 'loser' GOP Sen. for press gala shooting remarks: 'A disgrace'

MAGA slammed Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) on Monday over his remarks after the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner amid the ongoing Department of Homeland Security funding standoff in Congress.

GOP leaders were under pressure to end the ongoing stalemate as DHS employees, including Secret Service members who protected Trump, his cabinet, and the hundreds of politicians, diplomats, and journalists, on Saturday night, prepared to go without a paycheck, CNN reported.

"It is difficult to believe that this is the third time, the third time, President Trump has faced an assassination attempt... I am thankful for the many law enforcement officers who responded, in particular those who secured the shooter before he could harm the president or anyone else at the event," Thune said. "Incredibly, some of the law enforcement officers who responded are working for a department that is currently completely unfunded thanks to Democrats' refusal to negotiate on an Appropriations Bill."

MAGA loyalists started to turn on Thune via social media:

"Why have you allowed the good men and women of the Secret Service—who put their lives on the line for the President, his family, and his staff—to go without a paycheck for more than 70 days? This is inexcusable," attorney and former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, Mike Davis, wrote on X.

"Someone came out of his coma," wrote user TamAZ, who self-describes as "America First," wrote on X.

"It is past time for you to be removed as leader. You are part of the resistance, working against the American people. What a disgrace," user Richard Turner, who shares MAGA and right-wing content, wrote on X.

"Thune was too busy sabotaging President Trump and the American people to address another assassination attempt? Thune is not a 'leader' he is a loser. Thune can f--- all the way off," user CC, who self-describes as "original MAGA," wrote on X.

"You did this!" Dr. J Brown, who self-describes as an farmer "behind the blue curtain" and "ultra MAGA," wrote on X.

'Layers of failure' to lax security after Correspondents Dinner shooting: journalist

Security at the White House Correspondents' Dinner has been criticized by an attendee who says more could have been done to prevent the shooting.

A gunman stormed a security checkpoint outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 26, 2026, forcing President Trump and his party to evacuate the head table in a chaotic attack.

CNN journalist Wolf Blitzer witnessed the violence firsthand. "All of a sudden, I start hearing gunshots in the hall right near me," Blitzer said. "The next thing I knew, a police officer threw me to the ground and was on top of me." Blitzer described hearing approximately six shots and characterized the scene as "very scary" and "so worrisome," noting the gunman "had a major weapon."

Trump, in a press conference given just hours after the shooting, claimed the attack proved the necessity of his White House ballroom project, stating: "It's drone-proof. It's bulletproof. We need the ballroom. That's why the Secret Service, why the military, they're demanding it."

The Daily Beast executive editor Hugh Dougherty criticized the handling of security at the Hilton Hotel and suggested that more could have been done to vet those who were entering and exiting the building on the day of the shooting.

Dougherty wrote, "It does not take a security expert to unravel the layers of failure that happened at a Washington, D.C. hotel on Saturday night.

"How on earth could someone with a disassembled long gun check into a room at a hotel where the president was going to speak? I can answer that: Nobody even looked at my luggage on Friday afternoon. Worse, my colleague arrived on Saturday at 5 p.m. Nobody looked at his luggage either: No magnetometers, no hand checks, no I.D. checks. Nothing.

"How on earth could that person get downstairs and assemble a long gun? I can answer that too. I moved up and down from Floor 10 all day. Nobody ever stopped me and asked me anything.

"I have never shown my I.D., except to the clerk who checked me in; I have never been searched or frisked when I checked in, or moved in and out of the hotel. To get down from my room to the dinner, I simply flashed my ticket. It could have been a photocopy.

"The only time I went past a checkpoint was at the same magnetometers that Cole Allen, 31, sprinted past with his gun. Another colleague was outside; I texted them a copy of their ticket. That allowed them to get into the hotel as far as those same magnetometers, entirely unchecked. How on earth could that be considered safe?"

'Oh my word': Trump astounds with claim WHCD shooting shows the need for his ballroom

President Donald Trump said that the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner proves why the country needs his ballroom in the White House, prompting scorn.

"Jesus Christ. He is using this as an excuse to hype his ballroom?" Democratic strategist Chris D. Jackson wrote on X. "I just can't."

A shooter stormed a security checkpoint outside the ballroom hosting the dinner, forcing Trump and his party to evacuate the head table. During a press conference after the attack, Trump explained to reporters that the Washington Hilton would have been safer if it had a ballroom like the one he's installing at the White House.

"It's not a particularly secure building," Trump said. "I didn't want to say this, but this is why we have to have all the attributes of what we're planning at the White House. It's drone-proof. It's bulletproof. We need the ballroom. That's why the Secret Service, why the military, they're demanding it."

"Trump is using this to advocate for the ballroom right now," pundit Kyle Kulinski reacted. "Oh my word."

Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance wrote on X, "Trump, commenting on the incident at the Correspondents' Dinner today, says this demonstrates why the Ballroom he is building at the WH is needed."

Secret Service agent hospitalized after being shot in protective vest at WHCD: report

A law enforcement agent was reportedly hospitalized after being shot by a gunman who stormed the entrance to the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night.

CNN's John Berman reported that the shooter injured a law enforcement agent. Fox News host Sean Hannity also reported that a Secret Service agent was shot while the shooter stormed the entrance.

The shooter has since reportedly been identified as a 30-year-old man from Los Angeles, according to CNN law enforcement analyst John Miller. Law enforcement said they have him in custody.

Sean Hannity recounts how WHCD shooter 'charged' security checkpoint

The shooter who attacked the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday charged a security checkpoint set up near the entrance of the main ballroom, a conservative pundit recounted.

"The shooter charged the magnetometer closest to the front door," conservative pundit Sean Hannity told Fox News shortly after the chaos, which cut the dinner short and led to the evacuation of everyone at the head table, including Trump.

"How did he get up to that point?" Hannity asked. "What we can tell you, was that this was multiple shots at the closest magnetometer closest to the door."

"Everyone is okay," Hannity added. The shooter was in custody, despite earlier reports that he had been killed at the scene.


'Difficult to fathom': CNN anchor in disbelief that WHCD was set to resume after gunfire

The White House Correspondents' Dinner was initially set to resume after gunfire forced Trump and his party to evacuate, leaving a CNN anchor taken aback.

CNN reporter Brianna Keilar called it "difficult to fathom" that the event would carry on "because I just can't describe even the scene and just how scared everyone had been."

C-SPAN reported that President Donald Trump was initially expected to return to the dinner. Keilar said it seemed like the dinner would restart "momentarily" even though there was "a lot of commotion here right now."

However, the president later confirmed the event would not go on as he had hoped.

"Law Enforcement has requested that we leave the premises, consistent with protocol, which we will do, immediately," Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after expressing hope the event would still go on. "I will be giving a press conference in 30 minutes from the White House Press Briefing Room."

Trump said first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and all Cabinet members were in "perfect condition" and declared they would reschedule it within 30 days.


Wolf Blitzer details 'very scary' moment he was thrown to the ground as gunfire rang out

CNN journalist Wolf Blitzer described the "very scary" scene that unfolded in front of him at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

"All of a sudden, I start hearing gunshots in the hall right near me," Blitzer said. He was returning to his seat after using the bathroom, and shooting broke out before the dinner got underway. "The next thing I knew, a police officer threw me to the ground and was on top of me."

Blitzer described the scene as "so worrisome, and the noise was so loud," and said the gunman "had a major weapon." Reports later indicated that was a shotgun.

Initial reports claimed the gunman died at the scene, however Axios has since reported the gunman was taken into custody.

Blitzer later described hearing about six shots.



'Get down!' Harrowing footage shows moment Trump evacuated amid reports of gunfire at WHCD

Footage from the White House Correspondents' Dinner shows clashing and officers yelling "get down!" before President Trump was evacuated.

Host Oz Pearlman is shown holding up a card to Melania Trump when the sound of plates breaking begins. Faces turn serious at Trump's head table, and although music continues, security officers rush in and tell people to get down. Security officers in tuxedos also rush in to whisk the president away quickly.

The guests at the head table quickly start to leave. Although people look around, nothing is shown as the source of the chaos. Most of the guests stay seated, however, they don't seem to know what's going on.

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