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The Secret Service is giving a behind-the-scenes glimpse inside the strategy to protect President Donald Trump and guests at Friday night’s rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) Dinner.
The originally scheduled event in April was done before it even started after a crazed gunman bolted through a security checkpoint and was later accused of trying to assassinate the 47th president.
“Our agency grows and adapts from every event we secure, and we have engaged with WHCA to ensure attendees are given timely information in the unlikely event on an emergency during the event,” Anthony Guglielmi, Secret Service’s communications director, told Fox News Digital.
Guglielmi noted that the Secret Service’s protection plan worked during the April 25 dinner when agents stopped Cole Allen of California after he allegedly descended from the 10th floor of the Washington Hilton Hotel, where the dinner is historically held, and attempted to breach security barriers. He allegedly fired one shot from a shotgun before tripping and falling, after which he was quickly detained. One Secret Service agent was shot and sustained minor injuries.
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The rescheduled dinner is set for Friday night at the Waldorf Astoria on Pennsylvania Avenue, which is housed inside the Old Post Office Tower and was previously owned by the president and called the Trump International Hotel. It’s the first time in decades that the annual WHCA Dinner is not being held at the Washington Hilton.
Those attending the dinner will enter the ballroom through a door separate from the main lobby and entrance of the hotel.
“Guests will see a visible police presence around the Waldorf Astoria hotel and there will be enhanced traffic closures due to proximity to major thoroughfares,” Guglielmi said. “All ticketed guests will go through airport-style magnetometer screening to enter the event.”
“Roads immediately around the hotel will be closed Friday evening, and specifics about closures will be communicated in the coming days.”
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Guglielmi added that exact arrival instructions will be communicated specifically to ticket holders, and that each ticket will be screened by event staff prior to Secret Service security.
Notably, the dinner is significantly scaled-back from the usual event, which typically hosts 4,000+ guests inside one of the largest ballrooms in the District of Columbia — second only to the convention center Marriott Marquis. The Waldorf Astoria ballroom can host a maximum of 1,300 people for tight banquet seating.
At the dinner, Secret Service Police Officer Victor Gonzales, who was shot by the alleged gunman, will be awarded the President’s Award for Exceptional Service to the WHCA for his actions protecting Trump and event guests during the April attack.
“The WHCA is deeply grateful that law enforcement officials prevented the armed suspect from entering the ballroom,” said Weijia Jiang of CBS News, who as president of the association presided over the April dinner.
“Officer Gonzales played a significant role when he ran toward danger so that thousands of others could make it home safely. His courage stemmed from a dedication to service, which we are looking forward to honoring this week.”
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According to a court filing in the proceedings against Allen, the alleged gunman boarded an Amtrak train on April 21 after purchasing a one-way ticket from Los Angeles to the nation’s capital, stopping in Chicago to change trains. While he rode, prosecutors say he “kept a running note on his phone of his observations and thoughts during his cross-country train journey.”
His musings along the way, in tandem with what he wrote in a later manifesto, paint a picture of an unfocused person whose thoughts were “scattered,” as one former FBI behavioral analyst said, despite the gravity of the situation.
While he traveled through the U.S. Southwest on the first leg of his trip, Allen made a note: “[t]he southwest desert in spring Distant wind turbines looming like snowy mountains across the hazy NM desert.”
Of Chicago, where he would switch trains and board a second train to his final destination, Allen wrote that, “Chicago is cool; kinda like an Iowa small town was scaled up to LA size.” Of the sliver of southwestern Pennsylvania through which he would pass, he wrote that the “woods are awesome (look like vast fairy lands filled with tiny trickling creeks in spring apparently.”
Allen arrived in Washington, D.C., early in the afternoon on Friday, April 24. He spent about 30 hours in the city before initiating his alleged attack.
Surveillance video from the Washington Hilton hotel, also released by the Department of Justice, showed Allen apparently pacing through hallways, once entering the hotel’s fitness center and taking a look around before hastily exiting.
Minutes before the attack, a pre-scheduled email from Allen was sent to his family and friends, explaining his actions, according to authorities.
He allegedly acknowledged that his mission would likely severely harm him at the least, but never stated that he was willing to die for his cause. His motivations were political, and he painted himself as a savior of the oppressed. He apologized profusely to family, friends and everyone he had come in contact with on his cross-country trek. He noted that there were certain people he hoped wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire, and described himself as “friendly.”
Allen remains in federal custody in Washington, D.C., while awaiting trial on four charges.
Those charges are attempting to assassinate the President of the United States, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, transporting a firearm across state lines and assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon.
Fox News’ Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
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