Is Secret Service to blame for White House dinner shooting chaos?

However, Secret Service Director Sean Curran and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche have each maintained that the agency’s multilayered security approach did result in the alleged gunman not being able to breach the ballroom, where approximately 2,600 guests were gathered inside.

Lawmakers have chimed in over the past 48 hours to question how the hotel handled preparations and overnight guests, if invitations were checked, whether security was adequate, and if too many guests were allowed at the event, among other concerns.

Trump has admitted that the Washington Hilton was “not particularly secure” and cheered on the construction of the White House ballroom for these types of events in the future.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) suggested that the Washington hotel “wasn’t built to accommodate an event” of that size, particularly in a secure enough manner given the number of high-profile guests from the U.S. government’s line of succession.

Across 260 tables of 10 people each, the ballroom was brimming with people, as well as the halls throughout the hotel that led two levels down to where the main event took place.

Conservative media figure Kari Lake criticized security as “lax” and “terrible,” given that guests only had to present their paper ticket at the door and immediately before the security checkpoints, which were run by Transportation Security Administration officers. Lake added that it was the “easiest event I’ve ever gained access” to Trump.

Entry points to the building, as well as elevators and escalators, did not include security, allowing virtually anyone to enter the crowded halls of the building. Guests who stayed at the hotel did not have their personal belongings searched prior to check-in, which was how Allen was allegedly able to bring multiple guns into the hotel.

Retired Secret Service supervisory agent Bobby McDonald proposed that a mandatory bag check policy for presidential and vice presidential events at similar venues may be a good change moving forward, in addition to pushing out security screening checkpoints.

“Screening and perimeter will probably be looked to be moved out farther away from the actual location where the protectees will be,” said McDonald, a criminal justice lecturer at the University of New Haven in Connecticut. “This is sometimes hindered by the physicality of a particular location that will need to be protected.”

Once the dinner got underway, the armed suspect charged through the magnetometers at the security checkpoint and opened fire, shooting a nearby Secret Service agent in the chest. The agent was protected by a ballistic vest.

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said the problem was that the ballroom was secured and behind a security checkpoint, but the many parties and gatherings across the hotel ahead of the dinner were not and the gunman could have inflicted “mass casualties.”

“[Allen] ran through a magnetometer holding a long gun. As he did so, U.S. Secret Service personnel assigned to the checkpoint heard a loud gunshot,” Blanche said during a press conference in Washington on Monday afternoon.

“One Secret Service officer was shot in the chest but was wearing a ballistic vest that worked,” Blanche said. “This heroic officer who was hit fired five times at Allen, who was not shot but fell to the ground and was promptly arrested.”

The unnamed agent who shot back five times did not strike Allen, leading to some criticism of his shooting capabilities. McDonald defended the agent.

“When incidents happen and chaos is erupting, things don’t always go according to script,” said McDonald. “The bad actor was moving quickly, and oftentimes rounds that are discharged miss the target.”

Curran, who Trump put atop the agency following the first assassination attempt on his life in July 2024, has insisted that the agency’s security approach was effective because it did prevent Allen from breaching the ballroom.

“It shows that our multilayered protection works,” Curran said.

Anthony Cangelosi, a former Secret Service agent and criminal investigator at the Department of Homeland Security, said despite the Secret Service’s involvement in the event, their job is to protect specific individuals, not attendees at large.

Cangelosi, a lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, added that preventing attacks is key, but preparing to respond to them is also part of the equation.

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White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang, of CBS News, said the actions of federal police saved the lives of the couple thousand guests inside the room.

McDonald added that the agents quickly responded to Trump and Vice President JD Vance behind the dais and moved them to safety.