Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the US Secret Service on Monday, saying that “law enforcement did not fail” when a man rushed through security with firearms outside the ballroom where President Donald Trump and top officials were.
Blanche said during a news conference that “Secret Service agents promptly tackled and detained the suspect.”
The affidavit against the man, Cole Tomas Allen, says that he “fell to the ground and suffered minor injuries” when one officer began firing at him.
“Both can be true,” Blanche said of the conflicting statements.
Blanche told reporters to “rely on the complaint, because that was sworn to by an agent and not by the words out of the acting attorney general.”
DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Allen was not injured aside from “some kind of scrape on his knee.”
“This man was a floor above the ballroom with hundreds of federal agents, between him and the president of the United States,” Blanche said, noting the security on Saturday night.
Of Allen, Blanche said, “he ran through the magnetometer, holding a long gun, as he did so, US Secret Service personnel assigned to the checkpoint heard a loud gunshot.”
“One Secret Service officer was shot in the chest, but was wearing a ballistic vest that worked,” Blanche added. “This heroic officer who was hit fired five times at Allen, who was not shot but fell to the ground, and was promptly arrested.”
This post has been updated with additional information.