It may have been more than just a bulletproof vest that saved a Secret Service agent who was shot during an attack on the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last Saturday. The agent’s cellphone may have been a literal lifesaver, according to a CBS News report.
The new details come as White House Chief of State Susie Wiles prepares to meet this week with leaders from the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to discuss “protocol and practices” as dozens of major events are planned in the coming months to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary.
What happened
Surveillance video shows the suspect, Cole Allen, 31, sprinting full speed past security checkpoint at the Washington, D.C. Hilton Hotel.
According to CBS News, Allen fired a shotgun, possibly hitting a cellphone inside the pocket of a Secret Service agent’s bulletproof vest. Agents fired back at Allen, but he was not hit. Allen then fell and agents moved in quickly, pinning him down and taking away his weapons.
In all, six shots were fired — one by the suspect and five by the Secret Service.
The agent who was hit was not seriously injured.
CBS also reported that Allen was able to get close after booking a room in the hotel then using an unguarded stairwell to reach the event. One floor below, President Donald Trump, the first lady and hundreds of guests were told to take cover as agents moved them out.
Allen now faces multiple federal charges, including attempting to assassinate the president. He is not cooperating with the investigation.
Notably, Allen is not charged with assaulting law enforcement. The Trump administration has not yet confirmed if it was a round from Allen’s gun that hit the Secret Service agent who was shot.
White House security meeting
This week, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles will convene a meeting with top Secret Service and DHS leaders to discuss ways to keep Trump and top administration officials safe in the wake of the shooting.
While the White House maintains that security protocol worked in this incident, The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration actually provided a lower level of security for the dinner than it has for other meetings of top administration officials, despite the president, vice president and several members of the cabinet being in attendance.
Straight Arrow anchor Craig Nigrelli spoke with Philip Farina of Risky Business Security and Safety Advisors. Farina examined video footage of the suspect.
CRAIG NIGRELLI: What did the Secret Service do right where things may have broken down, and what was the risk of having the president and other key leaders all in one place?
PHILIP FARINA: When we think about security, especially at these very high levels, there’s a concept called protection in depth. And what that basically means is that there are multiple layers happening, both what we can see as the public and what’s really going on behind the scenes that we don’t see. And so there are multiple layers an individual has to get through to accomplish what they’re trying to do. So you know, when you look at what actually happened, some of what we’ve been shown, right? This protection depth was actually taking place, and there were more levels. I’m quite sure of what we haven’t seen, you know, off camera, that would have provided additional levels of protection for the President and the attendees.
NIGRELLI: On Saturday night, Trump attended the event, along with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the first lady. Is it wise to have so many high-level officials in one central location where, if a gunman did rush the banquet hall, theoretically, a lot of high, high-powered people could be at risk?
FARINA: We don’t see as many of those types of events. So again, when you’re at the government level, and you’re in the Secret Service, you’re the head of the Secret Service, and you’re the head of the protection division handling these, you’re going to be coordinating these events quite extensively and creating a plan that makes sense, that, again, provides layers of security along the way and throughout. So I believe that certainly there were these layers in place, and does it make sense to continue, especially in an environment now where it’s heightened by the different types of threats out there, to bring everybody together? Despite the threats that are out there, bringing everybody together, those events are going to continue to happen. And again, our government really just has to make sure that the planning, the process, and the responses are in place to make that a successful event.
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