Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright were among the government officials evacuated from the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C. after an armed man forced his way into the event headlined by President Donald Trump.
Hegseth’s presence was cited by Trump during a press conference about an hour after the evacuation. Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and other government officials were evacuated from the Saturday event at the Washington Hilton.
Wright’s attendance was mentioned in an article on the episode by Politico.
The suspect, identified by major news outlets as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old teacher and engineer from California, ran through a metal detector area and was subdued by security personnel but not until after firing one or more shots, including one that hit a Secret Service officer, who was wearing a bulletproof vest. The Secret Service officer apparently did not suffer serious injury.
Allen is expected to be arraigned on multiple charges Monday in Washington, D.C.
The White House Correspondents Dinner is typically attended by 2,000 or more people including print and broadcast journalists, celebrities and government officials. President Trump was scheduled to speak at the event and has said the event should resume within one month.