WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump and the head of the Secret Service said on April 30 the federal agent injured during the attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner had not been hit by friendly fire.
US Secret Service Director Sean Curran said in a Fox News interview on April 30 that one agent was shot at “point-blank range” by the suspect as he ran through a security checkpoint near the dinner on April 25.
“Our officer heroically returned fire,” Mr Curran said on The Will Cain Show, adding the agent fired five times.
The suspect was not hit by the agent’s fire, Mr Curran said, but fell to the ground after hitting his knee. The suspect was subdued by other federal agents near the top of the stairs leading to the ballroom where Mr Trump, the first lady, top administration officials and hundreds of others dined, he said.
A US law enforcement official also told Reuters on April 30 that an investigation had concluded the Secret Service agent was not hit by “friendly fire”.
The armed suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, sprinted through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton hotel on April 25 attempting, prosecutors allege, to assassinate Mr Trump.
Mr Curran’s comments differ from court papers filed on April 29 by prosecutors about the sequence of events.
Prosecutors referred to an officer firing five times, but their filings do not mention the officer being shot.
The document on April 29 also did not accuse Allen of aiming at or striking the Secret Service officer. There has been media reporting suggesting the agent may have been shot by friendly fire.
“They said it wasn’t friendly fire. It wasn’t us,” Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on April 30.
Mr Curran in his interview defended the security protocols at the dinner location on April 25.
“The site was set up perfectly. I will tell you I would not change the site again,” he said.
Mr Trump, when asked if he would wear a bulletproof vest, did not appear to be keen.
“I don’t know if I can handle looking 20 pounds (9kg) heavier,” he said. “I guess it’s something you consider. In one way you don’t like to do it because you’re giving in to a bad element.”
The incident has revived concerns about the safety of the US president and other top officials amid a pattern of political violence in the United States. REUTERS
