A White House correspondents’ dinner attendee said the sound of gunfire at the event reinforced what she described as a growing concern about political violence at public gatherings: that such risks now feel ever-present.
>> Trump evacuated after shooting at White House correspondents’ dinner, suspect in custody <<
Jennifer Sey, a guest of The Daily Wire at the event, published her account of the April 25 incident, which she said crystallized her belief that “every major cultural or conservative event I attend now carries the real risk of leftist violence.”
Sey wrote she made the realization as soon as she took cover under a table during the chaos.
“I knew it the moment I was under that table,” she wrote, adding that she viewed the threat as part of a wider climate in which violence is seen as justified by some on the left.
Sey said she was "certain" the attacker was politically motivated and drew a comparison to Luigi Mangione, who has been charged in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Sey said fear of gun violence has emerged only in her more recent experiences at conservative gatherings, contrasting that with her years hosting large parties at Coachella as chief marketing officer for Levi’s, when she says it was never a concern.
“Our worst fear was someone taking too many party drugs and getting sick,” she wrote. “We never worried about gunfire.”
Sey left her position at Levi’s after publicly advocating for school reopenings during the COVID-19 pandemic. She cited other events she has attended, including a Turning Point USA conference and a Moms for Liberty gathering, where she said she has feared potential violence.
She also said she has a stalker who leaves threatening voicemails.
"Friends tell me to 'be careful,'" she wrote. "But what does that mean anymore? If a shooter can get anywhere near the president at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, there's no safe level of careful. You simply live your life and hope fate is kind."