Shots fired inside the hotel hosting the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner attended by President Donald Trump caused immediate confusion about the suspect and what transpired at the April 25 event.
Trump and many government officials and journalists focused on questions about how a person was able to fire a gun in the same building — not the same room — as the president, raising questions about security nearly two years after Trump was the target of two separate assassination attempts.
Several news outlets identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, citing unnamed government sources. As of early afternoon April 26, authorities had not officially identified the shooter. A person was taken into police custody and is expected to be arraigned April 27 on charges of assault of a federal officer and discharging a firearm, with more charges possible.
Trump told Fox News the shooter had a “manifesto” that showed he is a “sick man” and “hates Christians.”
On social media, misinformation quickly spread.
Some X posts questioned whether the shooting was a conspiracy, sharing partial remarks or actions by people in attendance in ways that distorted the facts.
And at least one reporter shared inaccurate information in the immediate aftermath, with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posting on X that a Secret Service agent told her the suspect was “confirmed dead.” Ten minutes later, Collins wrote that Trump said the shooter had been apprehended.
Hours after...
Shots fired inside the hotel hosting the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner attended by President Donald Trump caused immediate confusion about the suspect and what transpired at the A...