As panicked guests scrambled for cover inside the Washington Hilton ballroom on Saturday night, one woman had a different priority: the wine. An unidentified blonde woman in a black fur coat was caught on camera calmly loading up on abandoned wine bottles in the immediate aftermath of a shooting that brought the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to a abrupt halt.
Because the gunman opened fire early in the evening during the salad course tables across the ballroom were still lined with full and barely touched bottles of wine when guests fled. The footage spread rapidly online, dividing the internet almost immediately between those who found the act distasteful given the severity of the evening and those who saw it as entirely reasonable given the circumstances.
“So, there you have press members STEALING wine bottles: this is who the press is! Repugnant!” one user wrote, sharing the clip. “How shameless, after the shooting incident, journalists are stealing liquor bottles in the same hall where President Donald Trump was also present,” another user fumed. Others were far more sympathetic.
“How is this stealing? They were placed on the tables for dinner. They were meant to be consumed. Everything was already paid for,” one poster argued in defense of the woman’s actions. “Bro they paid $350+ a plate and the night got canceled early, free wine tax refund is fair game,” a user named Bullz added, capturing the sentiment of a significant portion of the online audience.
The wine-grabbing woman was not the only attendee to attract viral attention from the evening. CAA agent Michael Glantz was also widely shared after footage showed him calmly continuing to eat his salad while other guests ducked under tables in response to the gunfire.
The chaos was triggered when a gunman attempted to rush past security at the entrance to the ballroom and opened fire before being subdued. Multiple shots were fired, though the evening’s only injury was a Secret Service officer who was struck in the bulletproof vest and suffered a minor wound. President Trump and cabinet members were swiftly evacuated. It marked Trump’s first attendance at the annual dinner as president.
The suspected shooter, identified as Allen, is now facing two counts of discharging a firearm during a crime and one count of assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, according to US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro. He is scheduled to be arraigned on April 27. As for the mystery woman in the fur coat — her identity remains unknown. Whether she left the evening feeling horrified, relieved, or simply well-stocked, no one can say for certain.
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