The most shocking thing about the attempted attack on the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night at the Washington Hilton was how not shocking it was.
Even before an armed man attempted to breach the secured area outside the hotel’s ballroom, the event’s guest list was a grim self-portrait of political violence in America. President Donald Trump, who survived two attempts on his life during the 2024 campaign, was evacuated by Secret Service agents. Erika Kirk, whose husband Charlie Kirk was killed just months ago at a campus event in Utah, was rushed out in tears. Republican Rep. Steve Scalise, who in 2017 was shot by a left-wing gunman at a Congressional baseball practice, guided to safety Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who helped lead the House investigation into the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, whose network was targeted in 2018 by a serial bomber who went after Trump critics, was near the gunman when the shooting began and provided some of the first eyewitness reporting.
That’s only the recent history. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose father and uncle were each assassinated in the 1960s, was also in the room. And this year’s dinner was held at the same hotel where Ronald Regan was shot in 1981. Locals still often refer to it as “The Hinckley Hilton,” a reference to Reagan’s attacker.
Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt this time, but the incident has again rattled the American political scene, where people know from experience just how much worse it could have been.
What happened at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner?
According to officials, a man armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and knives charged at a security checkpoint outside the ballroom where the president was set to deliver a speech at around 8:30 pm ET. One Secret Service agent was shot and hit in his body armor — Trump said later he’s “doing great” — before agents were able to subdue and arrest the suspect alive.
While there was some discussion of continuing with the event afterward, Trump said he ultimately sided with law enforcement’s recommendation to postpone it to another date.
Who is the person they arrested?
The suspect has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old teacher and engineer from Torrance, California. He traveled across the country by train and booked a room in the same hotel as the event in advance, according to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
What do we know about his motive?
While the investigation is ongoing, Allen reportedly sent a manifesto to family members shortly before the attack. The New York Post published a purported copy of the document, which included criticism of the administration’s war in Iran, military strikes on alleged drug boats, and deportation policies, and indicated that Allen had planned to target “administration officials” while avoiding hurting others “if possible.” He also expressed surprise in the document that the security at the hotel was relatively weaker than he expected.
In his comments after the attack, Trump criticized the security at the event and repeatedly argued that the incident bolsters the case for his planned White House ballroom, which he wants to build atop the now-demolished East Wing. The new space, though, would likely not affect this specific event. The WHCA is a private organization and thus secures its own venues.
What is the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner?
The White House Correspondents’ Association is a nonprofit organization that represents reporters covering the White House and advocates for media access to the federal government. The group is best known for the annual fundraising dinner it was hosting on Saturday, a long-running Washington institution that typically features a keynote address by a comedian (mentalist, this time) and a comic speech by the sitting president, along with a tribute to the press and the First Amendment. It’s frequently attended by prominent members of the media, politicians, celebrities, and business leaders.
Even before Trump’s election, the dinner had long been a controversial event, with critics complaining it makes the press look too self-congratulatory or too friendly with the politicians they cover.
Trump has his own personal history with it as well: In 2011, President Barack Obama mocked him onstage after the then-Apprentice host led a national campaign to stoke false conspiracy theories around his birth certificate. Trump said in March that he boycotted the event as president in both terms “because the Press was extraordinarily bad to me,” but that he planned to attend it for the first time this year after organizers “asked me, very nicely, to be the Honoree at this year’s Dinner.” Many Democrats, in turn, appeared to be avoiding his appearance this year, while journalists and press organizations had urged attendees to use the occasion to protest the White House’s treatment of free speech issues.
Allen is expected to appear in federal court on Monday to face charges. Senators are planning to schedule a briefing with the Secret Service this week to discuss security issues raised by the attack.