UFC’s Dana White On White House Correspondents Dinner Shooting: ‘It Was F***ing Awesome’

UFC President Dana White was at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday when a shooting occurred, though he wasn’t as rattled as some of the other guests.

An armed man had gained entry to the outside lobby at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, attended by President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and FBI Director Kash Patel, as well as several notable White House Correspondents representing major media outlets. 

From there, shots were fired, and an officer was shot. The bullet was said to have been stopped by his vest and he was recovering, per officials. The suspect was apprehended before further harm could be done, the President, Vice President, and senior officials were escorted out of the venue, but White was also present at the event and had the chance to give his thoughts fresh after the moment. 

“It just started getting noisy, tables getting flipped over, guys running in with guns. They were screaming, ‘Get down,’ I didn’t get down. It was f***ing awesome,” he said. “I literally took every minute of it in, and it was a pretty crazy, unique experience.”

“We were sitting right in front of the table, right in front of where the President was,” he continued. “Nobody got tackled, but guys came in looking for shooters. They came toward our table, I thought the shooter was by us or something.”

The armed man was said to have been a guest at the Washington Hilton where the dinner was being held, and is expected to be in court on Monday. He is believed to have opened fire and acted alone but a motive and intended target(s) has yet to be determined. 

The suspect has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31 year old native of Torrance, California. He will be facing two firearm-related charges including a count of assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon. 

Trump is set to host White and the UFC at the White House for Freedom 250 on June 14.