Newsmax host Greta Van Susteren said Sunday that the chaotic scene at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on Saturday night unfolded with confusion, fear, and little immediate information for those inside the Washington Hilton ballroom.
"I've been to about 25 of these, and I'll tell you, last night was like no other," Van Susteren told "Wake Up America Weekend."
Van Susteren, who was seated inside the ballroom when a suspected gunman was stopped before reaching the venue, described initially mistaking the commotion for something harmless.
"I thought it was someone dropping a tray of things … a bunch of cups or glasses falling and breaking," she said, recalling the loud noises that echoed through the room.
Moments later, the tone shifted dramatically.
"Everyone started screaming, 'Get down, get down, get down.' And so naturally, I got down because I quickly figured out it was something else," she said.
Van Susteren said those inside were left largely in the dark as the situation unfolded.
"It didn't [take a turn] because nobody informed us of anything. That was the irony of it," she said. "We were down under the table … and we had virtually no information."
She described seeing heavily armed officers sweep the room.
"I peeked out. I could see a SWAT team on the dais pointing guns at us because obviously they were looking for more people in the crowd. … Everything happened so quickly," she said.
During those tense moments, Van Susteren said her mind raced between worst-case scenarios and the possibility of a false alarm.
"My first thought was that this was some form of terrorism and there'd be a lot of dead people," she said. "The other thought … if this is just a bunch of dishes hitting the floor, we are going to look pretty stupid. You know, here we hear a bunch of dishes hit the floor and we all go under the table."
She also raised concerns about event access points, noting what she described as minimal screening upon arrival.
"I walked into the hotel with Franklin Graham and it was raining," she said. "So, everyone was sort of hurrying, and it was cold, and we go through one sort of minor checkpoint, and they say, 'Tickets, tickets, tickets.' This is about a half a block away, but on the hotel grounds, and we just have to hold up our ticket. Nobody looked at it. I mean, it looked like a piece of paper.
"And Franklin, [and] I both said to each other, 'Well, that was easy' … Look, I have no beef with the security. In fact, if someone had gone running past me like that, I probably would not have had the thought to shoot him or to fire at him. I would have thought it was a lunatic."
"We just have to hold up our ticket. Nobody looked at it … Franklin and I both said… 'Well, that was easy,'" she repeated.
Still, Van Susteren credited law enforcement for stopping the suspect before he reached the ballroom.
"You can't beat the training of these people," she said. "You've got to tip your hat to the security there."
Reflecting on the aftermath, she expressed gratitude and underscored the gravity of the incident.
"Look, I'm a veteran of the media. I'm just ready to do my job," she said. "I'm glad I'm alive. And I'm proud of the way they took him down and proud of the president's transparency.
"I brought Ozzy Osbourne to White House Correspondents' Dinner 25 years ago. I thought I'd never forget that one. I think this is the one I won't forget."
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