US6 min(s) read
Published 10:22 27 Apr 2026 GMT
A woman has come under fire for a bizarre act during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting.
The shooting unfolded on Saturday night (April 25) when a gunman stormed a security checkpoint and opened fire, sending more than 2,500 guests scrambling for cover as Secret Service personnel rushed President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other top officials to safety.
But as frightened attendees hid under tables and fled the Washington Hilton ballroom, one guest was caught doing something unexpected: gathering up bottles of wine.
Footage shared online showed an unidentified blonde woman in a black fur outfit heading straight for a table to take the alcohol while others evacuated.
This sparked fierce debate over whether the strange move was shameless or strangely practical.
"So, there you have press members STEALING wine bottles: this is who the press is! Repugnant!” one user wrote, sharing a clip of the moment.
"How shameless, after the shooting incident, journalists are stealing liquor bottles in the same hall where President Donald Trump was also present," another fumed.
Meanwhile, others defended the woman. "How is this stealing? They were placed on the tables for dinner. They were meant to be consumed. Everything was already paid for," another commentor wrote.
"Bro they paid $350+ a plate and the night got canceled early, free wine tax refund is fair game," a second chimed in.
The armed suspect fired multiple shots during the event before security pinned him down.
A Secret Service officer was struck in a bulletproof vest and suffered a minor injury, but no one else was hurt.
Authorities later identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California.
Prosecutors say Allen is now facing two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.
In a press briefing, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said there will likely be "many more charges" to come, per the Hollywood Reporter.
Investigators have disclosed that the suspect reportedly emailed a "manifesto" to family members moments before the attack, allegedly saying he was targeting members of the Trump administration.
Speaking to Norah O’Donnell on 60 Minutes, the president revealed that he may have slowed the Secret Service’s response because he wanted to understand what was happening.
"Well, what happened is - it was a little bit me," he said. "I wanted to see what was happening, and I wasn’t making it that easy for them.
"I wanted to see what was going on. And by that time we started to realize maybe it was a bad problem, different kind of a problem, bad one. And different than what would be normal noise from a ballroom, which you hear all the time.
"I was surrounded by great people. And I probably made them act a little bit more slowly. I said, 'Wait a minute, wait a minute. Lemme see. Wait a minute,'" he added.
Asked whether he believed he was the target, the 79-year-old said: "I don’t know. It sounded, to me - I read a manifesto - [that] he’s radicalized. He was a Christian, believer, and then he became an anti-Christian, and he had a lotta change. He’s been going through a lot, based on what he wrote.
"His brother complained about him, and I think reported him to the police. And his sister, likewise, complained about him. His family was very concerned. He was probably a pretty sick guy," he shared.
The interview turned heated when O’Donnell read aloud from the alleged manifesto, including a passage that said: "I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes."
Trump fired back: "Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you’re horrible people. Horrible people. Yeah, he did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody."
As O’Donnell tried to press him, the 79-year-old continued: "I’m not a pedophile. Excuse me. Excuse me...I’m not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all - stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated.
"Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, let’s say, Epstein or other things. But I said to myself, 'You know, I’ll do this interview and they’ll probably' - I read the manifesto. You know, he’s a sick person. But you should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things," he added.
When the interviewer noted the suspect had allegedly criticized hotel security in his writings, Trump replied: "Well, he was pretty incompetent too, because he got caught. And he got caught pretty easily.
"So I’d say he was pretty incompetent too. You know, I can take any event having to do with security or anything else. I can always find fault. Those guys did a good job last night. They did a really good job," he said.
Despite the attack, the president urged the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to be rescheduled soon.
"I don’t want to see it be canceled… I think it’s really bad for a crazy person to be able to cancel something like this," he said.
"I hope we’re going to do it again. Norah, tell ’em to get it going, and we should do it within 30 days, and they’ll have even more security, and they’ll have bigger perimeter security. It’ll be fine. But tell ’em to do it again."
Allen is set to be arraigned on April 27.
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