Jack Hobbs was at the White House correspondents’ dinner when the shooting began. (Image: Express)
One word describes Saturday evening at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner: chaos.
I’ve often dreamed of attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which could be considered the Oscars of journalism in the States.
But Saturday night’s events took a dark turn when five shots were fired just outside the Washington Hilton ballroom, just a few feet from my table.
As the shooter tried to enter the event, people started screaming and some started crying. Journalists initially hid, but as we ducked under tables, chairs and, in my case, against a railing, we began taking photos and video to document the third attempt on Trump’s life.
In general, there was confusion as to the members of the Presidential donald trumpThe Secret Service team arrived on stage and positioned themselves around the President and First Lady Melania Trump.
Afterward, chaos broke out as SWAT and Secret Service members descended upon Trump officials like Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt, Vice President J.D. Vance and escorted them off the stage.
In a bizarre moment, several Trump loyalists began chanting “USA” and “God Bless America.”
Trump later said during his press conference at the White House that he thought a server had dropped a tray full of food. When the pandemic started, a similar thought came to my mind. However, the truth soon became clear.
Members of Congress such as House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senator John Fetterman and members of the President’s Cabinet were immediately escorted out of the ballroom, with members of their security detail roughly pushing the guests aside. Some attendees attempted to flee the ballroom, but were met by a human barricade erected by hotel staff, who refused to let us through until they were given more information.
White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang returned to the dais and informed the stunned crowd that the dinner would go on as scheduled. Many people were stunned by this announcement, including a couple I was talking to earlier in the evening, who said they would not be staying and wanted to leave immediately.
Urging me to do the same, they were about a quarter of the way to the now open ballroom doors when it was announced that everyone needed to take their seats and the program would resume. Many attendees, hurrying to exit the now chaotic scene, did so reluctantly.
Many of us could have used a stiff drink after the chaotic events, but, unfortunately for us, Jiang reappeared several minutes later and informed us that the dinner would be postponed to a later date due to federal policy.
Later we were all thrown out of the hotel and only those with Hilton bookings were allowed to stay
