4/26/26: WHAT WE KNOW: WHCD Shooter NAMED, Security FAILURE

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2:02Get started at redfin.com. Own the dream. Hello, everybody. It is Sunday morning. I'm just going to come here to give you all a little bit of a roundup of everything we know about that shooting that happened last night at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Lots of details. We've chosen to take a little bit of time so we can provide you a fulsome picture. And of course, we're going to have more details for everybody tomorrow. Let's go ahead and start here with the video of what happened. This is by far, I think, the most close up video that we can all see that was taken by a Getty photographer.

2:38So I'm going to go ahead and play a little bit of this. And I know that some of the imaging here is a little bit chaotic. There we go. This is the video of the vice president and the president being escorted from the stage of the White House Correspondents Dinner. Let's take a watch.

3:17So that was the video. I'm sure many of you have seen many other angles. There was the one that was taken from the head-on shot, but I saw that that one, you could both see the president who appears to have either stumbled or gone down on the floor. He was picked up and then taken across. The woman crawling behind him is Weijia Zhang. She's the president of the White House Correspondents Center. And then the first lady was in front of the president. The vice president was ushered off of a different side of the stage in the background and appears to have been taken off first. So that was the video.

3:47I'm sure, again, there's so many different video angles, cabinet officials, RFK Jr., almost the entire cabinet was there, a full spectrum of the line of succession. From the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, almost the entire cabinet was present in attendance, senior administration officials, the vice president and the president all sharing the stage. And I think that's what sets the stage for what a shocking incident that this all is. Speaking personally, I've probably spent days of my life in Secret Service lines, like trying to get into conventions, the DNC, many others. And so to see a shooting that's able to take place at an event with the president of the United States, in addition to a significant amount of the cabinet, I think some Supreme Court justices were there, members of the House of Representatives, in addition to the Speaker of the House, who is third in line for succession.

4:33I mean, it's genuinely shocking. And so, again, just to stick to all of the things that we do know, we do have this video, which was shared late last night by the president. This is the video surveillance photo of the president shared, which appears to show the gunman. And I will give you some details on him here in a little bit, actually charging the Secret Service cord. Obviously, the video is very grainy, but we can take a look here. It looks like this is a Secret Service perimeter, and you're about to see him come running through. So you can see him. He's sprinting through with a gun, and immediately these Secret Service agents spring into action.

5:15Now, a little bit of what we do know here is that the gunman appears to have popped some shots off with a makeshift shotgun. The shotgun did appear to hit a Secret Service agent in a bulletproof vest. She's been transported to the hospital and is fine. That's all what we know so far in terms of the weapon that was used actually in the course of the shooting. Now, witnesses describe some five to six different shots. It appears that some of those shots were initially fired by the gunman, then Secret Service firing at him. However, it is important to say, and I think this will get a little bit later on here in a little bit about what exactly happened, is that the suspect appears to have been taken in custody.

5:57This is a photo which was shared again by the president late last night is down on the ground in the lobby of the Washington Hilton. He does appear to be unharmed. So even though multiple shots were fired at him, it doesn't look like he was hit. And Wolf Blitzer, the CNN anchor, was actually in the lobby while all of this was going down. He said he didn't see any blood. Now, we haven't seen a full release or anything of his condition, but just wanted to share all of that with you. So that's what we know here about the initial details where the president run off. We know that there were a couple of shots fired in the Washington Hilton.

6:33And of course, Washington Hilton is not only where the White House Correspondents Dinner is held every single year. It is also the site of President Reagan. President Reagan's attempted assassination attempt, again, part of which make this so surreal and shocking, is to the area. And, you know, let me just take a little bit of time here. If you ever attended DNC, the RNC, Trump rally or anything, especially where there's going to be multiple VIPs, there are levels of security. So what we know about this event is that there were these metal detectors that you need to pass through to get into the ballroom.

7:06But the security perimeter actually did not shut down the entire Washington Hilton, which explains things. Because one of the things that we're learning about this gunman is that he apparently had made a reservation at this hotel in April. right? So he made this hotel reservation in April. I can go ahead and share that right here. This is from Catherine Falders. Law enforcement officials said he is believed to have booked a room in the Hilton in early April, declining to answer questions right now, but allegedly made some reference to targeting administration officials, was not specific. Okay?

7:37So he made this reservation in April, and it appears, the D.C. police telling us late last night, that actually he was a guest at the hotel and had checked in earlier and appears to have brought some of the weapons in his luggage. Now, again, this is very, very shocking. I mean, again, to be a DNC or an RNC or any event, even private events, actually, that the president or the vice president will enter, you have to go through multiple levels of security just to get near the building. I'm talking about if you're on your person, you have to pass through the metal detectors, you may or may not, x-ray machines, for example, luggage, anything that you're trying to bring in and out of this type of building.

8:15None of that appeared to have been the case this time around. Now, the president did give some remarks last night. So, and again, just to give everybody part of what made this all so surreal, was this shooting happens, the president, the vice president, the entire cabinet is rushed off. So then an announcement comes on and they say that the programming is going to resume. The president actually puts out a truth social post. It appears from some sort of holding room in the very same building where he is saying, I want the show to go on, but I'm going to defer to law enforcement officials. Eventually, the Secret Service is just like, we have to cancel this entire thing.

8:49The president has to leave. So he leaves. He actually goes back to the White House, calls a press conference at some 1030 p.m. Eastern time. Many of the reporters you will see are in their regalia because they ran from the Washington Hilton back to the White House. I'm trying to think. I've done that a couple of times. It's not it's not that close, maybe a mile and a half, like two miles, something. So anyway, so many of them were sweaty and some of them apparently took scooters. So here's some of the remarks. I'm going to play a little bit of them just so you can get a sense of what the initial statement from the president was.

9:23This was an event dedicated to freedom of speech. That was supposed to bring together members of both parties with members of the press. And in a certain way, it did. because the fact that they just unified, I saw a room that was just totally unified. It was in one way, very beautiful, a very beautiful thing to see. A man charged a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons. And he was taken down by some very brave members of Secret Service and they acted very quickly. And I've just released for purposes of transparency, clarity. I've ordered it to be put out. You probably have it by now, put out on truth and put out on many of the platforms.

10:11A tape showing the violence of this thug that attacked our constitution and also showing how quickly Secret Service and law enforcement acted on our country's behalf. Okay. So that was the initial statement. It was really not too many questions, but basically detailing what happened. Kash Patel also was in attendance. He was rushed out. You can read some of the details of how all that went down, which perhaps, you know, we'll definitely have a lot more to say. But tomorrow, I'm just trying to do a general news roundup. Now, in terms of the suspect, some of the things that we know now so far, I'm going to go ahead and share this from the Wall Street Journal.

10:49The suspect's name is Cole Allen, who is now in custody after an attack outside of the White House Correspondents' Dinner. He is a graduate of Caltech University. He was a teacher of the month, and he has been named as the Washington shooting suspect 31 years old. He was from Torrance, California. So what we know, as you can all see here, is that he was armed with a shotgun, handgun, and knives, and was a guest at the Washington Hilton where the dinner was taking place. They have not yet shared a motive. As they said, Trump has called the shooter, quote, a lone wolf and a whack job. Alan graduated from Caltech, one of the most academically rigorous schools in America, in 2017 with a degree in mechanical engineering.

11:30Appears to have been an intern or a fellow, I think, at JPL with NASA. So very, very bright individual. He was registered with no party preference. Donated$25 to ActBlue in 2024 with a memo, quote, earmarked for Harris for president. He worked as a teacher at C2 Education, a private tutoring and test prep company, where he was named the Teacher of the Month in December of 2024, and he also pursued a master's degree in computer science from Cal State University. He posted a photo of himself in a cap and gown last year on LinkedIn, writing, Pretty sure my master's in CS is done. Lives in Torrance, 15 miles from Los Angeles in a middle-class neighborhood, primarily composed of single-level ranch homes.

12:13A blue scooter was parked on his lawn, and a neighbor said he had seen Alan riding it around the neighborhood. So obviously, big questions here. How did he even get from Torrance, California to the White House Correspondents Dinner. We do know a little bit about that from the initial statement here, which was released by the deputy attorney, or I guess the acting attorney general now, Todd Blanche. He said in an interview this morning that the suspect, Cole Allen, traveled from LA to DC via train and passed through Chicago on the way. And so obviously a very, very long way of getting across likely, perhaps transporting weapons, the handgun, the shotgun, and the knives that he had in his luggage, which he used and checked in the hotel.

12:56But obviously, premeditated attack. If you're booking a hotel long in before, we don't really know a lot about him, and he is not really cooperating with authorities. They're telling people that he was targeting, quote, administration officials. So obviously, huge question marks surrounding still this entire incident. I think the big story outside of not just the official details. And let me just, of course, say, I'm just choosing to do an entire news roundup. For many of you who still have bigger questions about the assassination attempt, or perhaps even just a shooting, I shouldn't even necessarily say that.

13:30We don't know any of that yet. We will do more of a deep dive tomorrow. The team and I, we're all researching all of this, but I'm just sticking with what we know and what the official story is now so far from the government. So I just want to make that very, very clear. Here is a weird and frankly, bizarre comment from the from the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, who said that the gunman was able to fire five to eight shots when he charged through a security checkpoint outside the dinner. And she asked, was this a massive security failure? And he says, to the contrary, it was a massive security success story.

14:05Let's take a listen. The gunman was able to fire at least five to eight shots when he charged through a security checkpoint outside the dinner. Was this a massive security failure? Oh, to the contrary. It was a massive security success story. I mean, if you think about what happened, as far as what we know right now, this suspect barely breached the perimeter. And so when you have a perimeter of a situation like we had last night, where you had over 2 ,000 people in a room, including the leaders of this country and many other dignitaries, you have a perimeter where you have law enforcement willing to risk their lives to keep people who don't belong from getting in.

14:50This man, from what we know from video surveillance and from witnesses who were there, barely got past the perimeter. He was immediately subdued. And yes, he got off a couple shots. Our brave Secret Service agent who took one to the chest, although he was wearing a bulletproof vest, the president talked to him last night from the Oval Office. He was in great spirits. He was very appreciative. The president expressed his appreciation. Okay. So you can see there that the deputy attorney general is calling this a massive security success story. I can just say as an independent person, I don't think that that is in any way true.

15:27So the Washington Hilton, as I said, I've been to that hotel many times. I used to live right next to it. And that Washington Hilton, apparently, so there's the ballroom, which is inside of the hotel. But the rest of the hotel was not locked down, not just for guests. And obviously, he was a guest at the hotel and the security. No, there was no x-ray luggage. I have attended events in the past as a reporter where I had a suitcase or something like that. Let's say I had to bring it to an event that had to be passed through an x-ray machine. And I'm talking about hours before any sort of VIP were even going to get there.

15:58So that's what kind of makes this a little weird, right? So there was no standard security protocol. So there's that. Number two is, again, for anybody who's attended some of these events, it's the entire building is usually locked down. You can't even go in and out. We also have a lot of testimony from guests who were shocked at the lack of security at the event. I'm not going to play all of this, but this was Simone Sanders, who was recounting how poor the security was at the White House Correspondents Dinner. She says, I actually showed up to the Hilton shortly after 8 p.m. I took a scooter right up to the front of the driveway.

16:30Crazy. Again, there's usually barricades, multiple different checkpoints. At this bit matters because, you know, because there's a lot of protesters outside, a lot of those barricades before you actually enter into the driveway. This year, there were no protesters. I came to find out people were milling about in the lobby. When I got off the scooter and into the front of the barricade, usually you have to show ID and a ticket. The folks, the security at the gate, who are not agents, they were identified as Secret Service. They were not identified as Secret Service agents. They did not ask me to show ID.

16:57They did not ask me to show a ticket. They said, oh, you're good. I'm sure you're going to your room. She said she wasn't even saying there. As I entered into the driveway, I saw the vehicle. The beast was driving around in a circle of the Hilton driveway. People walking around near it, taking photos. Again, you're not like I'm not just a layman. I cover the White House. I've been in the motorcade. I've attended dozens of these events as a professional. And I'm telling you, like, this is not normal. When I entered into the Hilton, I asked Secret service agents, which I saw they were identified as secret service agents, which way the ballroom was, they said they didn't know.

17:33When I finally got to the elevator, no one asked me to show my ID. No one asked me to show a ticket. I got all the way down to the red carpet area without ever showing a ticket to anyone in the Hilton. I'm saying it like this because this is unusual. So I went to the DNC, right? With the whole team, me and Ryan. We passed through probably four barricades before you're even allowed to get into the convention. As a journalist, even with the press credentials, hard press credentials, which have your photo, your name, that means you've been pre-cleared and all of that by Secret Service. The amount of rigmarole that you often have to go through if you're not traveling in the president's motorcade just to be able to get to this event.

18:08I mean, again, literally days of my life. The Beast, yeah, the only time that you're generally like allowed around the Beast normally is if you're in the motorcade and then you can't get out of your vehicle and go like up to the president's, I mean, look, you know, words barely began to describe. And some members of Congress are also highlighting this. Here's Mike Lawler, the congressman. He's saying, while the security perimeter outside of the ballroom worked, the Secret Service and federal law enforcement acted swiftly to secure the ballroom and move the president and high level officials out of harm's way.

18:43The fact is numerous glaring security issues. There was no photo ID, no verified list of attendees, which is very common for a White House event. Not just common. That's the standard. There were no magnetometers before the ballroom. Prior to the event, there were numerous receptions that someone could have easily gotten into with limited security. The building was still open to the general public. Without getting into details, I will just say there was not a good handle on how many members of this Congress were at the event and where they were in the room. There needs to be a complete, thorough after-action report as to how the gunman got from his hotel room into a secure area with numerous guns.

19:16I will also note—we'll go much more into detail this tomorrow—there is a reported shooting that happened a couple of weeks ago, apparently near the White House, which no details that the Secret Service has been able to run down. The trail has gone completely cold. There have been numerous of these types of incidents. There's a report out there that Trump has apparently been subject to more assassination—or, like, public assassination plots. I think than any modern president. And to see the breakdown in the security perimeter, I think it is very valid for all of us to ask a lot of questions about how all of this happened.

19:49And the fact that the administration, frankly, I mean, look, I can only speculate, but, you know, them praising the Secret Service, of course, we can praise the individual agents, but at an overall planning level, this is not normal. As I said here, just about the Hilton Hotel, the Hilton no scrutiny of guests. The fact, I mean, I could go on forever, like the beast detail there that was shared. There've been multiple guests now, not just that one person, I'm not cherry picking, who talked about the lack of security and how the fact there was really only security going into the ballroom itself and not securing the entire hotel.

20:25The fact, you know, look, who is this guy? Caltech University, not currently cooperating. We know took a train from California to Washington, D.C., booked a room sometime in April. That's, you know, more sophisticated level of planning necessarily than some sort of opportune style moment, maybe akin, I would say, to the Vegas shooting that happened, I think that was in 2017, which remains, you know, totally, basically unsolved in terms of like why that any of that even happened today. Still tons of questions around all of that. So everybody, you know, be very scrutinous, I think, of a lot of statements.

21:01And it's not like, you know, you have good reason not to have total faith in Kash Patel, who is said to be leading the investigation. So yeah, we're going to spend a decent amount of time going through even more of what we know, don't know, some of the statements made by the president, by the press secretary before any of this at all happened. But I did just want to give a full rundown of everything that we know right now with also the appropriate level of skepticism, as we have seen. Look, it's a breaking situation. Things are always wrong. Don't forget that. Initially, CNN said that the shooter was dead.

21:34Now they said he's not even hurt. You know, initially there was, oh, somebody might have been shot. And yes, it was a Secret Service agent, but, you know, he wasn't shot and hurt. So I guess it is technically true. But there's a lot of details like that that were very chaotic. Also, the Secret Service, you know, and security details of all these cabinet officials running in and escorting these people out. And then what happened, you know, in the hours after that and what exactly the detail and decision to cancel the event, what that all kind of broke down into. So there will be quite a bit, I think, of talking about this now in the coming days.

22:07And last thing, just to give you a little bit of a preview of what the main takeaway from the president and some of his supporters are here is Trump. This morning, what happened last night is exactly the reason that our great military Secret Service law enforcement, and for different reasons, every president for the last 150 years have been demanding a large, safe, and secure ballroom be built on the grounds of the White House. This event would never have happened with a militarily top-secret ballroom currently under construction of the White House. It cannot be built fast enough. While beautiful, it has every highest-level security feature.

22:39There is a plus. There are no rooms sitting on top for unsecured people to pour in. It's inside the gates of the most secure building in the world, the White House. The ridiculous ballroom lawsuit brought by a woman walking her dog, I don't know what this is about, who has absolutely no standing must be dropped. Nothing should be allowed to interfere with this construction, which is on budget and substantially ahead of schedule. Thank you for your attention to this matter, President Trump. So that's been echoed by the president at the podium yesterday in his most recent Truth Social post. And I believe even John Fetterman and others saying, now it's enough to drop the TDS to support the construction of the ballroom, which appears to be, I guess, you know, outside of not just Secret Service takeaway, which is kind of what I think it should be and or questions, you know, about the official story is also about the ballroom, Right.

23:21So apparently, you know, this is now the reason the reason why it absolutely must and has to be built. We can talk about that at a later time. You know, don't usually want to immediately pile on with obviously which is not the most important story of this. So I hope this is helpful for kind of understanding everything that we, from shooting, what we know, suspect, Caltech grad Cole Allen, currently in custody, the fact that the president, the initial statements and all that about how and what this all went down from law enforcement. Then we got to the ballroom, which seems to be like a bigger thing and bigger, much bigger question to me, United States Secret Service.

24:00I don't know why I've been wasting all my time in all these lines if this is going to keep happening, something like this. So that's just my own personal takeaway. It really is just, you know, can't understate enough. I'm sure you've heard this from every person who's quote in the new, but you know, if you've ever had to been through so many dozens of these types of thing, it's crazy. It's that was my first takeaway. I could not believe the security failure, just in terms of the perimeter and how it all went down. I've never seen anything like it. And I have been to multiple of these types of events over the years.