The American capital narrowly escaped a bloodbath on Saturday. Have the security authorities failed?
After shots were fired near President Donald Trump in Washington on Saturday, a heated debate broke out. We have checked four theses for their truthfulness.
Cole Allen, a heavily armed man from California, was overpowered on Saturday before he could cause a bloodbath among high-ranking politicians and media professionals in a banquet hall at the Washington Hilton. Secret Service agents subdued the 31-year-old as he sprinted past them. So everything went according to plan. “You reacted so professionally,” President Donald Trump praised the security forces on Sunday.
That’s correct. Because Allen decided not to attack the gala until after the festivities had begun, no one was injured except for a Secret Service agent. However, a closer look at the crime scene on a mezzanine of the Washington Hilton also shows that Allen was stopped when he was just a few meters away from the ballroom. Although he was one floor higher at this point, he would only have had to run down one flight of stairs to gain access to the journalists’ gala. Because Allen had booked a room in the huge hotel, he was apparently able to surprise the Secret Service agents.