Overview
- Authorities identified the suspect as Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, who they say charged a security checkpoint outside the Washington Hilton during Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner while armed with a shotgun and other weapons before being taken into custody.
- Pearlman says he was inches from President Donald Trump when Secret Service agents forced people down and drove them hard to the floor under the dais.
- He recalls locking eyes with the president for two seconds and thinking, “Oh no, are we about to die?” as agents executed the takedown.
- The disruption hit a split second after Pearlman revealed a trick about press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s unborn daughter’s name, which he had written on a notepad.
- After crawling backstage, he describes a chaotic scene with SWAT in full tactical gear, and he later said entry checks felt looser than at other red‑carpet events while praising the agents’ speed.