Ben Stiller is facing significant online backlash after posting a poorly timed tweet shortly after a gunman stormed Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner. The American actor, a lifelong superfan of the New York Knicks, had been tweeting throughout the evening to support his team as they faced the Atlanta Hawks. When they eventually won 114-98, Stiller tweeted: 'Got it done.' However, the post appeared approximately 20 minutes after a gunman opened fire at the Washington Hilton, causing President Donald Trump and his guests to be rushed out of the venue.
Political Figures Respond
Republican lawmaker Nancy Mace replied to the post, writing: 'Got what done?' Richard Grenell, former director of the Kennedy Centre, simply commented: 'Wtf?' One X user wrote: 'Sorry Ben; your guy missed. I really wish your side would stop trying to assassinate people you disagree with.' Another added: 'The timing of this tweet was pretty insane.'
Other X users flocked to Stiller's defence, with one writing: 'Poor guy is just trying to post about Knicks basketball and can't catch a break.' Another added: 'Lol yeah, very bad timing here. I sort of feel bad for the barrage that's coming his way.'
The Incident
The suspect behind Saturday's major security incident has been identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, from Torrance in the Los Angeles region, California. Just minutes before the attack, he sent an anti-Trump manifesto to his family in which he wrote: 'I am no longer willing to permit a paedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,' according to a copy published by the New York Post.
In a tense exchange during an interview on Sunday night, Trump branded a 60 Minutes journalist 'disgraceful' after she asked if that line referred to the president. 'I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would, because you're horrible people, horrible people,' Trump said, adding: 'Yeah, he did write that. I'm not a rapist. I didn't rape anybody. I'm not a paedophile.'
'He was a Christian, believer, and then he became an anti-Christian, and he had a lot of change,' Trump told the programme, describing the suspect. 'He was probably a pretty sick guy.'
Manifesto Details
In the manifesto, Allen calls himself the 'Friendly Federal Assassin' and said he planned to attack Trump administration officials, prioritising them from highest-ranking to lowest but excluding FBI Director Kash Patel, a law enforcement official told Reuters. Allen cited Christian theology as he said he was trying to protect those harmed by the administration's policies. 'Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behaviour; it is complicity in the oppressor's crimes,' the manifesto read, according to the official.
The manifesto, which was sent to members of Allen's family shortly before the attack, mocked the 'insane' lack of security at the Washington Hilton, where the White House Correspondents' Association dinner was held, the official added. 'Like, the one thing that I immediately noticed walking into the hotel is the sense of arrogance,' the manifesto's author reportedly wrote. 'I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat.'
Security Concerns
The chaotic events raised fresh questions about the security of top US officials, many of whom were gathered in the hotel's expansive ballroom. Trump seized on the attention brought by the incident to promote his planned White House ballroom as a safer venue for such events. 'This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House. It cannot be built fast enough!' Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The suspect travelled by Amtrak train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington, checking into the Hilton on Friday. Train passengers in the United States are not required to pass through airport-style metal detectors. Amtrak said it is cooperating with the investigation.
Officials have said the suspect fired a shotgun at a Secret Service agent at a security checkpoint in the Washington Hilton hotel before being tackled and arrested. Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Cabinet officials were rushed out as the incident unfolded. The Secret Service agent who was shot escaped serious injury because the bullet struck his protective vest, Trump said.
Aftermath
Trump, who had boycotted the media gala in the past, has requested that the dinner be rescheduled within 30 days. White House Correspondents' Association President Weijia Jiang of CBS said the group's board would determine their next steps. The suspect will be charged in federal court on Monday with assault of a federal officer, discharging a firearm and attempting to kill a federal officer.
Saturday's incident was another reminder of a rising tide of political violence in the United States in recent years. Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead at a rally last September, just months after the June 2025 slaying of Democratic Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband and the wounding of a Minnesota state senator. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in the days following Kirk's murder found Americans believe increasingly harsh rhetoric surrounding politics is encouraging violence in the US.
A White House official said law enforcement officials who interviewed Allen's sister were told he had a tendency to make radical statements, had attended an anti-Trump 'No Kings' protest and referred to a plan to do 'something' to fix issues with today's world. Trump suggested the protest might have spurred the suspect to action. 'Part of the reason you have people like that is you have people doing No Kings,' he told CBS. 'I'm not a king.'
Global Reaction
Around the world, leaders condemned the attack and expressed relief that Trump and all present were safe. A planned US visit by King Charles scheduled to start on Monday will proceed, Trump and British officials said.
Little was immediately known about the alleged shooter's background, but social media posts indicated he had worked at C2 Education, a national private test preparation and tutoring service. C2 Education said in a statement that it was cooperating with law enforcement investigators.
Washington Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives. Allen had purchased two handguns and a shotgun and stored them at his parents' home. The suspect lived with his parents in a two-story house on a tree-lined street with picket fences and craftsman-style homes in the historic district of Torrance, a seaside town in the South Bay area of greater Los Angeles. Neighbours in the middle-class neighborhood on Sunday said they were only casually acquainted with him and his parents, with most saying they never spoke to him beyond a brief hello or waving to them as they gave Halloween candy to trick-or-treaters.
