A former Secret Service agent says President Donald Trump should contemplate having fewer Cabinet members at large events after a shooting broke out at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C.
The president and first girl had been evacuated from the occasion Saturday night time after authorities say a shooter rushed safety armed with a shotgun and different weapons. He shot one Secret Service officer earlier than being detained. The suspect has been recognized as Cole Tomas Allen.
“Do we need to rethink the idea that we’d have a dozen people in the line of the presidential succession in one room?” NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt requested former Secret Service agent Robert McDonald on The Hill Sunday.
“Yeah, I think your point is spot on, Chris,” mentioned McDonald, who spent greater than 20 years defending earlier presidents. “This is something that we probably need to be looking at going forward.”
Several Cabinet members, together with Attorney General Todd Blanche and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had been at the occasion, as had been others in line for presidential succession, together with Vice President J.D. Vance.
“President Trump does seem to have a lot of Cabinet members in and around events that he does,” McDonald mentioned. “And I don’t seem to remember that with other presidents that I’ve been with, with the number of Cabinet members that are at various events.”
“So, that is something that probably the Secret Service may want to generate some discussions with the Trump administration to see how we can potentially alleviate that kind of exposure and those kinds of issues,” McDonald added.
Gunshots were fired inside the Washington Hilton simply after 8:30 p.m. Saturday, with the black-tie WHCA occasion underway, Secret Service brokers rushed Trump and different cabinet officers to security whereas journalists and politicians took cowl beneath tables.
Allen was detained after Secret Service agent was shot and injured. He shall be charged on two counts: use of a firearm throughout against the law of violence and assault on a federal officer utilizing a harmful weapon.
He is about to be arraigned Monday afternoon in federal courtroom. If convicted of each counts, he faces as much as 15 years in jail.
Meanwhile, McDonald mentioned he thought that the Secret Service did an ideal job responding to the shooting.
“Nobody got hurt other than the officer who took a bullet to his bulletproof vest, other than perhaps a twisted ankle or a couple of skinned knees,” he mentioned. “Everybody seems to be okay, and that’s the bottom line.”
