WASHINGTON – The spring pea and burrata appetiser course had been distributed and the schmoozing hour of April 25’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner had begun when a small commotion occurred toward the back of the Washington Hilton ballroom shortly after 8.30pm local time (8.30am on Sunday, Singapore time).
It might have been an upturned catering cart, or perhaps a scuffle with protesters.
Then security officers began sprinting down the aisles toward the elevated dais, where President Donald Trump, along with Vice President J.D. Vance and the first lady, Melania Trump, had taken their seats just a few minutes earlier.
There were no announcements or cries of “get down”. Instead, a sense of danger spread across the room like a wave.
Hundreds of the country’s top media executives, editors-in-chief and prominent television anchors, clad in tuxedos and evening gowns, instinctively dropped to the floor, crouching beside chairs and ducking under tables.
FBI agents and police officers work outside the residence associated with Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the shooting incident at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C., on April 25.
PHOTO: REUTERS
A nauseous silence descended, punctuated by small gasps and whimpers. The loudest sounds were those of the security officers racing – and in some cases leaping over chairs and guests – to evacuate senior administration officials from the tightly packed ballroom.
No one had a hint as to what was going on – except that Mr Donald Trump had been rushed from the stage, which was now occupied by a pair of security officials brandishing large guns.
Later in the evening, officials said that an armed man had charged a security checkpoint and that a Secret Service officer had been shot.
Agents draw their guns after loud bangs were heard during the White House Correspondents’ dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, on April 25.
PHOTO: AFP
Ms Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and a guest of Fox News, crawled beneath her table, where she was comforted by anchor Ms Harris Faulkner and Mr Trey Yingst, the network’s chief foreign correspondent.
From beside his chair, Mr Brian Stelter, CNN’s media correspondent, held his iPhone aloft, recording video of whatever scenes were unfolding above.
The health secretary, Mr Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, looked pained as guards hustled them out.
FBI agents are seen at the Washington Hilton after shots were fired during the White House Correspondents dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, on April 25.
PHOTO: AFP
Others appeared relatively unfazed. Mr Lloyd Blankfein, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, was sitting with CBS News journalists toward the front of the room when the emergency occurred.
As the confusion unfolded, Mr Blankfein turned to his seatmate and asked, “Are you going to finish that salad?”
After less than five minutes, the crowd sensed that any immediate threat had passed. Guests shakily returned to their feet, some wiping away tears.
Journalists are accustomed to chronicling moments of unexpected violence, but few witness them in real time.
Attendees depart after shots were fired during the White House Correspondents dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, on April 25.
PHOTO: AFP
Even as some in the room rushed toward the exits, dozens of reporters dialed law enforcement sources to figure out what had happened.
Network executives and editors ordered up coverage plans. Ms Susan Zirinsky, a veteran producer at CBS News, stood on a chair in a sparkly sequined jacket with a phone pressed to her ear.
Mr Yingst, of Fox News, called into his control room to deliver on-air updates. Ms Jacqui Heinrich, one of the network’s White House correspondents, had been seated on the dais, and she filed a report from backstage. CNN aired Stelter’s iPhone footage live.
“It wasn’t until I stopped streaming half an hour later that the gravity of the moment really registered,” he said.
Politico’s editor-in-chief, Jonathan Greenberger, ordered several black-tie-clad reporters to commandeer a nearby banquet room as an ad hoc command center so they could quickly publish the news.
US President Donald Trump reacts in the background as CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang speaks during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C, on April 25.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Some gallows humor emerged.
“Are they bringing more Champagne?” one attendee said to a friend. But other guests were deeply upset. One woman’s hand shook as she spoke on the phone with a family member and wiped away tears.
Ms Weijia Jiang, a CBS News correspondent who is president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, eventually retook the stage and, with some emotion in her voice, said the evening would continue, prompting loud applause.
Eventually an announcement was made that authorities preferred that the crowd depart.
By 10pm, the ballroom was emptying out. Hundreds of plates of half-eaten burrata lay abandoned as guests shuffled to the escalators, toward the chilly outdoor air of an unnerving and unexpected night. NYTIMES
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