Shooting at Trump’s dinner with journalists, what happened and who is the attacker. All the details.
WHAT HAPPENED AT TRUMP’S DINNER WITH JOURNALISTS
A roar, the faces of the guests at the head table contorting in a grimace of surprise and fear. The chosen units storming into the room, rifles drawn, and the guests, almost all journalists accredited to the White House, dropping to the floor, seeking shelter under the tables. This is what happened during the correspondents’ gala dinner with Donald Trump and his wife Melania. It was the first time the American leader attended the gala as president.
A few moments after the shots, four according to witnesses, shouts of “Stay down!” and “Get down!” were heard, while the guests, including correspondents, Trump administration officials, and some members of his cabinet, took cover.
In the chaos, the president was quickly surrounded by U.S. Secret Service personnel, weapons drawn, who escorted him off the stage through a rear curtain.
SHOOTING AT THE WASHINGTON HILTON
The big band music stopped and people in ball gowns and tuxedos fell silent as agents crowded around the tables and over the guests on the floor of the huge ballroom at the Washington Hilton, the same hotel where President Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt 45 years earlier.
“Shooting upstairs,” Mehmet Oz, administrator of Trump’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is heard saying as he is evacuated by security. Also quickly leaving the ballroom is Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963 in Dallas, Texas.
TRUMP’S REACTION
Shortly after, Trump posted on social media thanking the Secret Service and security forces for the “incredible work done” and thanking Melania for “the courage and patience shown.” He then announced a press conference shortly thereafter. The first task is to organize the gala again.
Then, answering questions, he explained that “at the moment of the blast I didn’t know if it was a tray falling or a bullet.” Then, when security men ordered him to leave the room, “I did everything not to have to leave the room, but the Secret Service men told me, ‘please, sir.’ It’s protocol, I had to leave.” The second assassination attempt suffered, journalists note, is cause for fear. “I’m not worried about myself, but for the country.” Finally, the message: “What happened will not stop me from winning the war in Iran.”
THE ATTACKER
It is known that the attacker comes from California, is 31 years old, is named Cole Tomas Allen and, says Trump, “he is sick, very sick. They tell me he is a lone wolf.”
“Thirty-one years old, from Torrance, California. According to American media, he would be a part-time teacher, mechanical engineer graduated from CalTech, the California Institute of Technology. On social media, an image was circulated showing him among the awardees as ‘teacher of the month.’ He also worked as a video game developer,” reports Repubblica.
“Washington police believe Allen was staying at the Washington Hilton Hotel, where the event was taking place. This was explained by Police Chief Jeffery W. Carroll in response to journalists’ questions. This would explain how he managed to enter the hotel armed with a rifle, pistol, and knives,” the newspaper concludes.
THE SHOOTING SUSPECT TO APPEAR BEFORE JUDGE ON MONDAY
The shooting suspect will appear before justice on Monday in the U.S. capital. This was stated by the federal prosecutor. The suspect – who engaged in a firefight with Secret Service agents but was not hit – will appear Monday before a U.S. district judge. According to federal prosecutor Jeanine Piro, the suspect will be charged with using a firearm during a violent crime and assaulting a federal agent with a dangerous weapon.
TESTIMONY OF AN ITALIAN CORRESPONDENT PRESENT
“The dinner was organized in the largest room of the Washington Hilton, there are two side entrances and a central one with a staircase leading to the upper floor. I was by the door, at table 219. At one point, a shot is heard, then three more sharp shots. I thought it was something falling, because they were serving dinner, we were waiting for the lobster. Instead, everyone started running, people coming in from outside, total panic broke out. Trump was taken away and we remained locked down for half an hour.” This is the account to Adnkronos by Italian journalist Iacopo Luzi, a collaborator of the agency who was at the White House correspondents’ dinner when the shots were fired.
