Politics

John Hinckley -- the man who shot then-President Ronald Reagan in 1981 -- says the Washington Hilton Hotel should stop holding big events because it's not secure, and bad things keep happening there ... just like at Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Dinner.

And who knows better than Hinckley ... the Washington Hilton was the site where he shot Reagan and 3 other people in March 1981 in a failed assassination attempt. Hinckley was quickly arrested but later found not guilty by reason of insanity and placed in a mental hospital for over 34 years before gaining back his freedom.

TMZ spoke with Hinckley Sunday about security at the Washington Hilton, which has been a topic of national debate in the wake of Saturday night's WHCD shooting, with many people making comparisons to the Reagan shooting.

Kash Patel is already taking a bit of a victory lap, saying he and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will break down exactly how alleged gunman Cole Allen slipped past security at the WH Correspondents' Dinner … with more answers coming later today.

Patel went on FOX News Channel's "Fox & Friends" Monday morning promising "actual details" during a press conference later today -- including how the suspect slipped through undetected at the Washington Hilton -- noting they have a ton of details less than 36 hours after the shooting.

Blanche has said Allen checked into the hotel as a guest at least a day before the dinner.

Patel says agents have run "dozens and dozens" of interviews to piece together everything ... who the guy is, how he got in, the firearms he used, and everything in between.

Ben Stiller has the MAGA army coming after him over a social media post about his beloved Knicks ... misinterpreted as a comment on the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting.

Here's the deal ... the actor merely posted "Got it done" Saturday night, in reference to the Knicks Game 4 road victory over the Atlanta Hawks to even their playoff series. And it just so happened around that time ... suspected gunman Cole Tomas Allen opened fire at the Correspondents' Dinner.

Due to the timing ... MAGA supporters jumped all over Ben's X post, assuming that, since he's a Hollywood liberal who's been critical of President Trump in the past ... CLEARLY he must've been rooting on the gunman.

Two newly surfaced photos are pulling back the curtain on the chaos outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner ... revealing the weapon authorities say accused gunman Cole Allen brought to the D.C. Hilton Saturday night ... and showing the suspect wrapped in a Mylar blanket moments before bullets started flying.

CNN obtained the photos … showing what appears to be a black tactical-style long gun laid out on a carpeted floor ... one of the weapons authorities say Allen brought with him to the hotel. Investigators claim he was also armed with a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol and a 12-gauge shotgun.

A second photo shows Allen shirtless and wrapped in an emergency-style Mylar blanket after his arrest ... officers had removed his clothes while searching him for additional weapons and checking for injuries.

President Trump got hot under the collar during his "60 Minutes" interview with Norah O'Donnell that aired Sunday night, slamming her for bringing up Jeffrey Epstein's pedophile ways in connection with the White House Correspondents' Dinner alleged gunman, Cole Allen.

On Sunday, Trump sat down to chat with O'Donnell at the White House about Saturday night's shooting at the Washington Hilton, where the prez was gathered with the press and his cabinet for the WHCD event.

As you know, Allen allegedly dashed through the lobby, heading toward the ballroom where the world's most powerful people were celebrating, but he got tackled along the way by federal agents.  

Tristan Thompson was all smiles before the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner ... TMZ obtained video of him on his way in, and he was stopping to take selfies with fans.

Check out this video from Saturday's event in Washington D.C. ... Tristan is on his way to take an escalator up to the dinner when he stops to snap photos with some folks.

Tristan is wearing a bedazzled and sparkling jacket as he pauses for some pics ... and he even has to retake a selfie with a woman who whipped out her phone.

This all went down about 30 minutes before shots rang out at the hotel and sent guests scrambling for cover.

President Trump says he didn't let the Secret Service usher him away from the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner because he wanted to see what was going on.

Trump recapped Saturday night's shooting in a sit-down interview Sunday with "60 Minutes" ... telling Norah O'Donnell he didn't make it easy on the folks trying to protect him.

POTUS praised his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, for being "strong" and "smart" in her first experience with a shooting ... she wasn't there in Butler, PA a couple years ago when there was an assassination attempt.

Cole Allen, the California teacher and video game developer suspected of opening fire at the White House Correspondents Dinner, sounds like he was a model student ... at least according to one of his old college professors.

Allen took a couple of Dr. Bin Tang's computer science courses at California State University - Dominguez Hills when he was earning his master's degree in the field ... and Tang recalled how Allen was as a student in an email to the AP.

Tang said of Allen ... "He was a very good student indeed, always sitting in the first row of my class, paying attention, and frequently emailing me with coursework questions. Soft-spoken, very polite, a good fellow. I am very shocked to see the news."

The guy who went viral for casually eating a salad in the aftermath of the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner is speaking out about his sudden internet fame ... and his appetite.

Michael Glantz is the man caught on camera munching on his dinner as the ballroom goes on lockdown ... and he tells TMZ he is glad folks are finding levity from the viral clip after such a "horrific moment."

A big-time agent at Creative Artists Agency, Michael says he felt very safe -- the place was crawling with law enforcement after the shooting -- and he wanted to watch everything unfolding in front of him, telling TMZ ... "Not every day you see something like that go down."

Michael reps CNN's Wolf Blitzer, and he tells us the only thing he was concerned about was Wolf, who got knocked over in the chaos. That and making sure his salad didn't go to waste.

The armed suspect arrested in connection with the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner has been identified as 31-year-old Cole Allen, TMZ has confirmed, as new details emerged on what exactly happened.

During a press conference late Saturday night, Jeff Carroll, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department interim chief, said the perpetrator was carrying a shotgun, handgun, and several knives when he tried to charge through a security checkpoint outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton Hotel. At the time, President Trump, his cabinet officials, and the media were all gathered inside the ballroom for the event.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday on "Meet the Press" that the suspect is beleived to have been targeting members of the Trump administration. The man allegedly squeezed off between 5 to 8 shots before he was apprehended.

President Trump confirmed one officer was shot at "very close" range but was saved by his bulletproof vest. Everyone else was safely evacuated.

Cole Allen, the California teacher & game designer who authorities allege shot up the White House Correspondents' Dinner, was featured in a news segment nearly a decade ago ... showing off a prototype he created to help make wheelchairs safer ... and the resurfaced clip is pretty interesting.

Allen was a student at Caltech in 2017 when he was interviewed by ABC7 in Los Angeles at an "Aging into the Future" conference.

In the resurfaced clip, Allen talks about developing a prototype for a wheelchair emergency brake.

He explains his invention ... "The wheelchair brakes tend to lock the wheels, but don't actually lock the chair to the ground ... the idea with this is to prevent it from moving at all."

New details are surfacing about the suspect in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting scare, including reports of an alleged manifesto and concerning statements made prior to the incident.

In an interview with Fox News, President Donald Trump addressed the reported manifesto Cole Allen created -- the 31-year-old man who has been identified as the suspect in the shooting that took place Saturday night -- saying based on Allen's writings, he "hates Christians" and calls him a "troubled guy."

The White House confirms to TMZ ... according to information provided to law enforcement and outlined in interviews with family members, the suspect’s brother alerted New London Police in Connecticut after allegedly receiving a manifesto from Allen minutes before the incident.

Authorities say the document prompted immediate concern and was turned over to investigators.

New details are emerging about the suspect accused of attempting to breach security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and open fire -- and officials say he’s not making things easy.

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche revealed in an interview with CNN that the suspect -- identified as California resident Cole Allen -- traveled across the country before arriving in the nation’s capital ... allegedly going from Los Angeles to Chicago, then continuing on to D.C., apparently all via train.

Blanche says he then checked into the Washington Hilton Hotel, where the event took place, a couple of days before the incident on the 24th ... and then attempted to breach the event’s security perimeter the following night.

As for what’s happening now behind the scenes … it sounds like investigators aren’t getting much directly from the suspect himself.

Erika Kirk was whisked away during the White House Correspondents' Dinner after an armed individual rushed the building and gunshots rang out during the event ... and she was seen on video getting incredibly emotional as she left.

In one clip, shared online by CNN reporter and anchor Sara Sidner, Erika is seen moments after chaos erupted Saturday night ... while crying, she appears to say "I just want to go home" as she's ushered out of the building.

Another video shows Erika outside the venue, standing near Kash Patel and others ... while she appears visibly shaken up by the terrifying incident.

Mentalist Oz Pearlman is recounting the heart-stopping moments from inside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, describing the moments after chaos erupted, and how close he was to the President when it all went down.

Pearlman says everything seemed normal as he was doing a big reveal for one of his tricks ... until sudden commotion broke out across the room.

At first, he wasn’t even sure what he was hearing, telling CNN, “I thought maybe it was a medical emergency,” adding that initial confusion quickly turned into fear when he realized what he heard sounded like gunshots.

10:30 PM ET -- Trump released images and video of the suspect, who he called a "sick" person who was armed with "multiple" weapons.

The video, seen below, shows the man sprinting while shooting towards the location of the White House Correspondent's Dinner from the lobby of the Washington Hilton. Security immediately jumps into action to aprehend him.

10:15 PM ET -- The shooter has been identified as a 30-year-old male from Los Angeles, according to CNN. Based on information that is surfacing, it appears the man began shooting at the metal detector and did not get through it.

9:40 PM ET -- The White House Correspondents' Dinner has been canceled. President Trump there will be a redo within to the next 30 days.

A gunman threw the White House Correspondents' Dinner into mad chaos Saturday night, firing shots in the lobby near the ballroom where President Trump and many other administraiton officials were having dinner.

The room was filled with several thousand journalists who were celebrating the evening, when someone in the lobby fired at least 6 shots.

Secret Service agents jumped on President Trump and pushed him to the ground, then swiftly got him out of the room.