Yuri Grips / EPA
Security agents on alert after hearing gunshots at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, where Donald Trump was present
Saturday’s shooting at the Press Gala dinner, in which a Secret Service agent was shot, once again raises questions about the protection given to American politicians. Before the attack, the shooter sent a letter to his family in which he ridiculed Trump’s “crazy lack of security.”
Hundreds of agents from various security forces were tasked with ensuring the protection of the annual event, which this year had the President as its main figure. Donald Trump.
Still, a suspect armed with a shotgun and other weapons managed to reach the floor immediately above the ballroom of the Washington Hilton hotel, where a extraordinary concentration of members of the Governmenthigh-ranking parliamentarians and celebrities dined — and effected .
In addition to Trump, the Vice President was present JD Vancethe Secretary of State Marco Rubiothe head of the Pentagon Pete HegsethAttorney General Todd Blanche, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and several other government officials, many with their own security teams.
It is still too early to say definitively whether there were failures or lack of communication on the part of the security forces, says the agency.
However, less than two years after two assassination attempts against Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign, this Saturday’s incident suggests that even the most comprehensive personal security apparatus of the country presents points of vulnerability.
The Washington police chief stated that the alleged shooter, who was armed with a shotgun, a pistol and knives, was stayed not hotel Washington Hilton, where the dinner took place.
According to , Allen, who was taken down by security agents less than one hundred meters from Trumpsent the family a anti-Trump poster ten minutes before forcing the security control, in which he stated that he could no longer tolerate a “pedophile” and “rapist” president.
In the missive, the shooter ridicules the “crazy” lack of security of the president, and says that agents Iranians could have entered with a machine gun heavy.
During an impromptu White House press conference following the incident, Trump praised the first respondersincluding the Secret Services, and reflected on the dangers of being presidentremembering that some of his predecessors had been murdered.
The president highlighted that the suspect I hadn’t even been close to “force entry” into the doors of the party room, but noticed that the hotel where the event was taking place “It’s not exactly a safe building.”. In fact, in 1981, it was the site of an attack against the then president Ronald Reagan.
Although the approximately 2,600 attendees had to pass through metal detectors to access the party room, located in the basement, just present a ticket to enter the hotel itself, which was also open to guests.
With the entrance to the place surrounded by protestersmany of whom protestedagainst the Trump administration’s war in Iranparticipants were quickly taken to the interior.
Nas , you can see the shooter running forward down a corridor, passing a security checkpoint. He then shot an officer, before being taken down and handcuffed, according to authorities.
Inside the hall, participants they were still eating the pea salad of the time with burrata when guests sitting at the back of the room reported having heard several gunshots.
Secret Service Agents quickly removed Trump and Vance of the long table of honor. But the agents responsible for protecting other members of the Government and parliamentarians, sitting on the same floor as the journalists and their guests, reacted in different ways.
Some agents They made their way through the crowded hallthey climbed onto chairs and literally broke the dishes in front of them to reach their charges, while astonished guests took shelter under the tables, in the middle of the .
Security teams from several members of the Government, including Rubio, Bessent and Burgum, forced their charges to lie down on the ground and formed human shields.
Most of those protected were eventually removed, although those removal times have varied significantly: some were taken almost immediately, while others remained in place for several minutes.
Trump, who, when a would-be assassin’s bullet hit him brushed his ear during a rally campaign campaign, was eager to resume the festivities, White House officials said.
This is likely a manifestation of Trump’s confidence in his security team — despite, at least third time in the last two yearsits perimeter was breached with apparent ease.
