White House Correspondents’ Association president Weijia Jiang praised her fellow journalists for their “calm and courage” on Sunday morning, hours after a shooting incident took place at the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night.
“Last night’s shooting at the Washington Hilton was a harrowing moment for everyone in attendance,” she wrote on X. “We express our deepest gratitude to the U.S. Secret Service and all law enforcement personnel who ensured the safety of everyone in the ballroom and beyond. Their actions protected thousands of guests, and we wish a full and speedy recovery to the officer who was injured in the line of duty. We are grateful everyone in attendance was unharmed, including the president, the first lady and the vice president.”
“Our dinner exists to celebrate the First Amendment and the hard daily work of the journalists who defend it. Last night, those journalists showed exactly the kind of calm and courage that work demands, jumping into reporting immediately after the incident unfolded. We are proud of everyone in that room,” the CBS News senior White House correspondent continued. “The WHCA board will be meeting to assess what happened and determine how to proceed. We will provide updates as soon as any are available.”
“I know many of you are still processing what happened last night. Thank you to the USSS and all the law enforcement agencies who kept us safe,” Jiang further captioned her social media statement. “We are so grateful. To the members of the WHCA, we will get through this together.”
Jiang was seated at the main table alongside President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, mentalist Oz Pearlman and other WHCA officers when they were ushered out of the Washington Hilton due to gunfire between an armed suspect and Secret Service agents.
Trump initially indicated he’d like to reschedule the WHCD for within the next 30 days at his press briefing immediately following the shooting and subsequent postponement.
The alleged shooter, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, has been charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, per U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro. His arraignment is set for Monday, where additional charges are expected to be announced.
