Trump says he 'wasn't worried' during shooting, with suspect due to appear in court — BBC News

[0:00] The suspected gunman who tried to storm an event that President Trump was attending in [0:05] Washington over the weekend will appear in court later today. These were the chaotic scenes inside [0:15] the ballroom a little over 24 hours ago. President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and senior [0:21] cabinet figures had gathered with hundreds of journalists for the White House Correspondents [0:25] Dinner. The suspect has been named as 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen. He was detained by security [0:32] agents at the Washington Hilton Hotel, where the White House Correspondents Dinner was being held. [0:38] The acting US Attorney General has said the President and his officials were the likely targets. [0:43] Our North America correspondent Peter Bowes reports. Pandemonium in a ballroom packed with [0:51] America's most powerful politicians. For the third time in two years, a gunman managed to get close [0:58] to the President. Donald Trump was bundled offstage along with his wife Melania and the Vice President [1:04] J.D. Vance. The room was full of journalists for the annual White House Correspondents Dinner. [1:10] They had to hide under the tables as members of the Secret Service stormed in when gunshots were [1:16] heard near the entrance. Surveillance cameras caught the moment the suspect tried to break through [1:22] security. Police say the attacker was carrying two guns as well as knives. The authorities have said [1:29] it's likely Mr. Trump and his officials were the intended victims. [1:34] Mr. President, do you know if you were the target of the gunman? [1:38] I don't know. It sounded to me, I read a manifesto. He's radicalized. He was a Christian, [1:47] a believer, and then he became an anti-Christian. He had a lot of change. He's been going through a lot [1:53] based on what he wrote. His brother complained about him and I think reported him to the police [1:58] and his sister likewise complained about him. His family was very concerned. He was probably a [2:05] pretty sick guy. The suspect, Cole Thomas Allen, travelled to Washington by train from his home [2:11] almost 3,000 miles away in a suburb of Los Angeles, where the FBI have been going door-to-door [2:17] looking for evidence. A computer science graduate, he describes himself online as a mechanical [2:23] engineer, game developer and teacher. Cole Thomas Allen is accused of assaulting a federal officer [2:29] and using a firearm during a crime of violence. The attack has highlighted what many see as a growing [2:37] problem in America, politically motivated violence. In a country all too familiar with the scourge of gun [2:44] violence, an attack at the very heart of American government, witnessed by many of the nation's [2:49] most prominent journalists, has sent shockwaves through the capital. Peter Bowes, BBC News, Washington. [2:57] Let's speak to retired FBI Special Agent Daniel Brunner. Mr Brunner, thank you very much for joining us [3:02] here on BBC News. What went wrong at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night? [3:08] Well, I think that there isn't going to be much that went wrong. I think that a lot of people are [3:14] talking about this as a security failure, but I think this is a security success. Secret Service, [3:19] both the Uniform Division and the Special Agents, along with Metro PD, conducted a very safe event. [3:27] The individual, this is exactly what they were trying to mitigate, this type of threat, [3:31] an individual who comes running through. The video that everyone is seeing is just one view of it. [3:36] Off to the right, there are magnetometers. The individual was taken into custody without having [3:40] been shot. He was tackled by other agents. He still had two flights down to go to the main ballroom [3:47] and still sealed doors. He was not anywhere near the ballroom when the shots were fired. [3:53] And I think that this is a, this is an example of a, of a good event, a good security detail. [3:58] Now the investigation will determine why he was doing this, what are his motivations, [4:02] and how he did get from his hotel room to that area without being detected if he was carrying a [4:09] shotgun or other types of weapons. That right there is, could be the security failure, but it could [4:14] be room for improvement. Isn't that the point though, the one that you've just made, that the alleged gunman [4:20] was checked in as a guest in this hotel and the allegations are he was heavily armed, a shotgun, [4:28] a handgun, and knives. How, how could that be allowed to happen when they knew at the hotel [4:34] that this big event attracting all of these dignitaries was going to be taking place, including [4:38] the United States president? Absolutely. And here's the thing is, the investigation will determine [4:44] when did he check in? As we all know, when we check into large hotels like the Hilton and like other [4:49] hotels around the world, there's a large amount of people that come in and out of that hotel at all [4:55] times. That security lockdown really only happens on the day of the event. The secret service prepares [5:01] for this days in advance. And there's, I'm sure they're looking at every guest, every person that's [5:06] going to be working there, employed at the hotel. They're looking at their checks, they're looking at [5:11] their backgrounds, but not every single person who checks into that hotel one day, two days, three days [5:16] before. You can't search every single one of those person's suitcases. You can't look at all those [5:21] things. If this individual had broken down his weapons and had packed them into a suitcase and [5:26] he would look just like any other person checking into the hotel. That is something that cannot be [5:33] secured against. It is a very dense area in downtown Washington, D.C. There's a lot of people, a lot of [5:39] guests coming in and out. So it's very, very difficult, if not impossible, to conduct that type of [5:44] security. But I mean, surely people will say, well, airports do it all the time. Airlines do it all the [5:49] time. Just briefly, what's the difference? Why is it so much harder in a hotel? People are not [5:55] allowed to get on planes, for example, especially when there are dignitaries on board without thorough [6:00] checks. Well, absolutely. How many guests do you have in a hotel at any given day? And those people [6:07] could be checked the day before or two days before. Every person that is going into that ballroom [6:12] gets magnetometer. Every person that was approaching that ballroom gets magnetometer, just like we're doing [6:18] at the airport. The individuals that are, if they were to check in, someone was to check in [6:23] with guns, with type of weapons inside the hotel room, they're not going to be able to conduct an [6:28] attack against the hotel room unless they go down, just like this individual did. And then he would [6:34] encounter various layers of security before he even gets to the ballroom. And that's exactly what [6:39] the security did. They stopped him before he even was able to pass through the magnetometers. [6:44] So the magnetometers were there, and there were Secret Service agents, both Uniform Division [6:50] and Metro PD, and they stopped him. They took him into custody without him having been shot. [6:55] So I think that this was a security success. And everybody's talking about the failures, [6:58] but this is a good event. Now, there will be lessons learned. [7:02] Daniel Brunner, we must end up there. [7:02] They're going to find out how he got into the hotel. [7:05] Thank you very much for your time, Daniel Brunner. Thank you.