OAN Staff Lillian Mann
6:01 PM – Monday, April 27, 2026
Following the third attempted assassination of President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, former President Barack Obama issued a statement on X on Sunday morning condemning the attack and calling for a national rejection of political violence.
The incident unfolded just after 8:30 p.m. Saturday outside the Washington Hilton, where a gunman, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, attempted to breach a security checkpoint before opening fire on law enforcement.
While the president and several Cabinet members were safely evacuated as guests sheltered in place, one U.S. Secret Service agent was struck by gunfire. Fortunately, the agent’s bulletproof vest prevented life-threatening injuries, and no other casualties were reported in the wake of the shooting.
“Although we don’t yet have the details about the motives behind last night’s shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, it’s incumbent upon all us to reject the idea that violence has any place in our democracy,” Obama wrote in an X post on Sunday. “It’s also a sobering reminder of the courage and sacrifice that U.S. Secret Service Agents show every day. I’m grateful to them – and thankful that the agent who was shot is going to be okay.”
31-year-old Allen reportedly traveled to Washington, D.C., days earlier. He was carrying a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives when he stormed the magnetometer area on Saturday night. Authorities currently believe that he had acted alone, though writings and digital material recovered from his hotel room are still being investigated.
“Administration officials, (not including Mr. Patel) they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” Allen allegedly wrote in a manifesto. “I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done.”
“And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” the manifesto continued. “(Well, to be completely honest, I was no longer willing a long time ago, but this is the first real opportunity I’ve had to do something about it.)”
During an impromptu news conference after the shooting, Trump asked Americans to settle their political differences without violence.
“I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts in resolving our difference peacefully,” Trump said from the White House. “We have to resolve our differences.”
“I will say, you had Republicans, Democrats, independents, conservatives, liberals and progressives,” he continued. “Those words are interchangeable, perhaps, but maybe they’re not. But yet, everybody in that room – big crowd, record-setting crowd, there was a record-setting group of people – there was a tremendous amount of love and coming together. I watched, I watched and I was very, very impressed by that,” Trump said.
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