Nebraska Congressman Mike Flood says he was seated about 30 feet from the stage when chaos erupted Saturday night at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, where an armed man breached security and rushed toward the ballroom where President Donald Trump was speaking.
Authorities say the suspect, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of California, was taken into custody after gunfire erupted near a security checkpoint outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton. One Secret Service officer was reportedly struck in a bullet-resistant vest and is recovering. Trump and Vice President JD Vance were rushed from the room unharmed.
Flood, who was invited by the CEO of C-SPAN, described initially mistaking the gunshots for “plates breaking” before watching Secret Service agents swarm the stage.
“The Secretary of the Army was sitting at the table next to me, and his detail came and whisked him away. The Secretary of Labor, who was sitting at my table, they got him out of there so fast I didn’t even notice he was gone,” Flood recounted. “At that point, everybody else at my table started to get under the table, yelling, ‘Get down! Get down! Get down! Get down!’ but I was seated at the leg of the table, so it was impossible for me to get under the table. I ducked a little bit, but I also was just taking in this scene.”
Flood said heavily armed agents ran across tables toward the stage as senior officials were evacuated.
“I just looked around and thought, this is terrible,” he said. “This has no place in American society.”
The Nebraska Republican praised the Secret Service response and said he hopes the dinner is rescheduled. Flood also said the incident should not deter public gatherings involving government officials.
“We can’t hide,” he said. “We have to be able to spend time with each other to govern this country.”
Investigators believe the suspect acted alone. A motive has not been announced at this time.