The U.S. Department of Justice released previously unseen footage on Friday showing the moment an armed man attempted to storm the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in an alleged plot to assassinate President Donald Trump. The video was made public amid speculation that a Secret Service agent was struck by friendly fire during the incident.
U.S. Attorney for Washington, Jeanine Pirro, posted the video on social media, stating, 'There is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire.' Prosecutors had earlier claimed the agent was shot in his bullet-resistant vest but did not confirm whether the bullet came from the suspect's weapon.
Secret Service Director Sean Curran told Fox News that the agent was shot at 'point-blank range' by the suspect as he ran through a security checkpoint near the dinner. 'Our officer heroically returned fire,' Curran said, adding that the agent fired five times. Trump also denied the friendly fire theory, telling reporters in the Oval Office, 'They said it wasn't friendly fire. It wasn't us.'
News agency Reuters, citing a U.S. law enforcement official, reported that an investigation concluded the Secret Service agent was not hit by friendly fire. The nearly six-minute video shows about a dozen federal officers dismantling metal detectors at the checkpoint and standing casually as the suspect appears to run through with a long gun.
In the footage, the suspect appears to point his weapon at the agent while running, but it is not immediately clear if he fired a shot at that point. The gunman emerged from a doorway and sprinted toward officers, most of whom did not notice him until he was nearly through. Only one agent, believed to have been shot by the suspect, had his weapon drawn and fired at least three times, though authorities say the suspect was not shot during the attack.
The footage also shows the suspect 'casing the area' a day before the gala, walking back and forth in a hallway at the Washington Hilton hotel and briefly entering the hotel gym. Curran noted that the distance from the metal detectors to the podium where Trump was seated was only 355 feet (108 meters).
The 31-year-old suspect was tackled and detained in a chaotic scuffle with security guards, which is not visible in the released footage. He has been charged with attempted assassination of the U.S. president and faces life in prison if convicted. The suspect agreed to remain in custody during a court hearing on Friday, with his attorney, Tezira Abe, not contesting prosecutors' arguments that he is a danger to the community.
Source: www.dw.com