A 31-year-old man has been charged following a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night.
U.S. President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and other top leaders of the U.S. were evacuated from the annual dinner at the Hilton Hotel.
The shooting suspect was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.
Trump said the suspect was armed with multiple weapons before being stopped by the Secret Service.
One officer was shot, but he was protected by a bulletproof vest. “He was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun, and the vest did the job,” Trump said.
Jeanine Pirro, United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, said the suspect was charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.
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“Everybody in that room, record-setting crowd… there was a tremendous amount of love and coming together, I was very, very impressed by that,” Trump said.
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He added that he and Melania Trump were quickly rushed off-stage.
“We’re not going to let anybody take over our society, we’re not going to do that,” Trump said.
“I fought like hell to stay.”
Trump added that the dinner will be rescheduled.
“We will do this again,” said Weijia Jiang, president of the White House correspondents’ association.
Shortly afterward, staff began breaking down table settings and the presidential lectern.
FBI Director Kash Patel said at a press conference after the event that people saw the best of America on Saturday night, adding that the Secret Service did exactly what they were supposed to do.
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“These are crazy people,” Trump said.
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Those in attendance included Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — and many other leaders of the Trump administration.
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Pirro praised the Secret Service, the FBI and the Metropolitan police for their quick actions at the event.
“All of them tonight acted so quickly that they prevented what could have been a horrific event where we were all sitting there in one room,” she said.
Pirro said the defendant will be arraigned on Monday in federal district court.
-with files from The Associated Press
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