The recent security failures at the Washington Hilton have sparked considerable concern following a serious incident involving a would-be assassin just prior to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner where Donald Trump was present.
Hugh Dougherty, the Executive Editor of Daily Beast, highlighted significant security oversights in his own experience as a hotel guest adjacent to the suspect, Cole Tomas Allen. He revealed that the suspect managed to move around the hotel with alarming accessibility.
In his account, Dougherty emphasized that a man intent on causing harm had the same hotel access as he did, seamlessly transitioning from the tenth floor to the ballroom area.
“A man who wanted to kill people—many people, maybe me, maybe my colleagues—had checked into the Washington Hilton, just like I had,” Dougherty articulated, pointing out the serious implications of this breakdown.
He also recounted the confusion that followed the shooting attempt, noting a three-hour delay before bomb squad personnel arrived—a significant lapse that raised eyebrows.
Attempts to return to his room for a phone charger led Dougherty to confront hotel security, who prevented him from re-entering. A detective informed him they awaited a judge’s approval, hinting that the suspect was still somewhere in the hotel.
“At that moment, I realized if you’re waiting for a judge, by implication, you’re waiting for a warrant,” he stated, highlighting how this delayed response could have potentially jeopardized safety.
After stepping outside, he observed the bomb squad finally making their entrance, and he expressed disbelief over the elapsed time since the initial shooting. Catherine Rampell echoed this sentiment, questioning the delay.
This incident raised critical questions about the planning and security measures prior to the event, especially since Dougherty noted that basic screening processes appeared to be entirely absent.
“There were never any searches,” he explained, noting that magnetometers were only in use at a checkpoint outside the ballroom. The only checkpoint he encountered was the same one that Allen sprinted past while armed.
As reported by senior law enforcement sources, Allen allegedly took advantage of the hotel’s interior stairwells to navigate around the crowded areas, eventually accessing a terrace level above the ballroom where earlier receptions had occurred.
