As the shock of the gunman somehow getting past security at the White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday night wore off, guests at the annual event began to ask if anything like this had happened before.
The answer is "no" and without hesitation.
"There has never been a breach of security at the [correspondents] dinner in the 102 years presidents have been coming to it," George Condon, veteran White House correspondent for the National Journal, told Newsmax as he and other guests emerged from beneath the tables at the Washington Hilton following the gunfire.
Condon, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, has read virtually everything written about all of the White House Correspondents' dinners since Calvin Coolidge became the first president to attend the event in 1924.
"There has never been anything remotely like this," agreed National Journal contributing editor Tom DeFrank. "There has never been a security incident at our dinner. It's horrible, it's sad, and a commentary on our polarized times."
DeFrank, who has attended the dinner since 1972, added that "it's so ironic we have hundreds of reporters wandering around and no one has an idea what is happening."
The president and first lady and all of the guests at the head table were evacuated, and it was announced later the dinner would be rescheduled.
At a subsequent news conference at the White House, Trump praised the work of the Secret Service and the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police and called on all Americans to "recommit to resolving their differences peacefully."
Although initial reports were that the Secret Service had shot and killed the assailant, follow-up reports said he was in custody. The assailant has been identified as Cole Thomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California. Details will be forthcoming.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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