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House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said Sunday that the shooting at the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner underscored the need to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), arguing that law enforcement officers performed “flawlessly” despite uncertainty surrounding their paychecks.
The congressman cast blame on Democrats for “refusing to fund some of the most important law enforcement officers in our country,” like the Secret Service, TSA and Coast Guard, on “The Sunday Briefing.”
“This is a big, big deal that these Democrats are literally playing with the safety of Americans — by the way, Republican, Democrat and other, it doesn’t matter what your political perspective is. It’s about Americans’ safety,” he said.
TRUMP PRAISED FOR ‘STRENGTH’ IN MOMENTS AFTER SHOTS RANG OUT AS EYEWITNESS DESCRIBES ‘TERRIBLE’ SCENE
“The fact that [Secret Service] performed so flawlessly last night while under the stress of wondering whether they’re going to continue to get paid and all the rest of it is even more impressive,” he added.
The shooting comes amid a more than two-month DHS funding stalemate in Congress. Democrats are seeking changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operations and won’t vote for a budget without guarantees thereof, while Republicans are turning to alternative funding methods to continue enforcement as is.
Emmer blamed Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for putting a stop to the most recent funding bill that he said was supported by Republicans and Democrats in both chambers of Congress by “[pulling] out two pieces of the bill and [making] that a political issue.”
UNEARTHED VIDEO REVEALS COLE ALLEN AS QUIET INVENTOR YEARS BEFORE ALLEGED BID TO ASSASSINATE TRUMP
He added that it was the “wrong time to be playing with American safety from the minority.”
Emmer himself was seen leaving the ballroom with assistance amid the chaos that followed the gunfire. To put to rest rumors that he may have been injured in the incident, he clarified that, because his leg is in a cast, he had been using a mobility scooter at the event.
“But you couldn’t keep it on the floor because there were 3,000 people there and it was so tight. So they had to take the scooter elsewhere. And obviously, when this thing broke, they told us we had to get out. So I had a couple human crutches that were helping me escape out the side door to get to the scooter, which ultimately I rode out.”
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The suspect in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting told law enforcement after his arrest Saturday night that he intended to target Trump administration officials, senior federal law enforcement sources confirmed to Fox News.
Authorities identified the suspect as 31-year-old Cole Allen, of Torrance, Calif., adding that he prepared a manifesto outlining his intent and shared anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric on social media.
Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
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