From seeing many of the comments about last night’s shooting at the Washington Hilton, it’s clear that many people don’t have an understanding of the hotel’s layout and how these Washington events are handled.
Banquets “R” Us
The Washington Hilton is a massive hotel. Built in 1965, it spreads out over a block and is officially considered part of the city’s Adams Morgan neighborhood. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is to the south, and the extremely high-dollar Kalorama Heights neighborhood is to the west.
The hotel has more than 1100 rooms and almost 120,000 square feet of meeting space. One reason it hosts so many significant events is its 30,000-square-foot, football shaped, pillarless ballroom. Depending on the setup, it can seat up to 4,000 people. For a banquet event like last night, it holds about 2500. (BTW, the football shape is said to have come from Conrad Hilton’s friendship with the owner of DC’s football team.)
In my past life as a radio and TV news reporter, I covered or attended many events at the hotel involving the president, vice president, and many lesser officials. In my post-broadcast news career, I’ve been involved in coordinating events that involved the White House, including at the Hilton.
Yes, it’s the Hinckley Hilton
The main entrance and lobby of the hotel are near the corner of Connecticut Avenue and T Street NW. The massive International Ballroom is mostly underground. It is located about half a block downhill from the main entrance. There is a separate, smaller covered driveway outside the event entrance connected to T Street. It was outside that entrance on March 30, 1981, that John Hinckley Jr. shot President Ronald Reagan, White House Press Secretary James Brady, Secret Service Agent Tim McCarthy, and DC Police Officer Thomas Delahanty.
In the early moments of fast-breaking news, there will almost always be some bad information broadcast. Last night, it was reported that the gunman was dead. In 1981, it was that James Brady was dead. Both were wrong. Brady survived, but his life was greatly impacted by severe brain trauma. He died in 2014. In 2000, the White House dedicated the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, the same place where the president spoke last night.
Two key things happened after that tragic day. The Secret Service mostly stopped using that entrance for the people the agency protects. Also, from that day forward, the Washington Hilton became widely known as the “Hinckley Hilton”. If I have visitors in town and we are near the neighborhood, I still take them to the spot where those shootings occurred.
Where this shooting occurred
Generally, to get to the ballroom, you first go through the event lobby reception area. It’s here that many events will hold will-call tickets for those who don’t have them in hand. People can enter from the event entrance, or an escalator or elevator from the lobby level of the main hotel, one floor up.
At the back of that lobby area, spanning to the left, is a large reception room. During a secure event, it’s on the edge of this room that the Secret Service sets up magnetometers and security checkpoints. Members of the Uniformed Secret Service greet guests. Secret service agents and other non-uniformed law enforcement are also watching this area. It’s here that last night’s shooting occurred.
Looking at the videos, the shooting occurred after the vast majority of guests had been through the security checkpoint. Most people were seated in the ballroom downstairs. The few non-security people on that level at the time of the shooting – CNN’s Wolf Blitzer among them – had likely gone back upstairs to use the restrooms or make a phone call. If you aren’t using their WIFI, the Washington Hilton has notoriously bad cell reception in the International Ballroom.
As the videos show, there was a significant number of law enforcement, uniformed, and in suits, on either side of the magnetometers. One of them even jumped on Blitzer to protect him. News accounts indicate that the man ran for about 60 feet through the checkpoint at top speed before being stopped.
One flight down, the International Ballroom
That security checkpoint and reception area is one extra-long floor above the high-ceilinged ballroom. After going through security, guests walk down two large sets of stairs on either end that lead to the ballroom’s main doors. Just before the stairs closest to the security checkpoint, is apparently where Cole Thomas Allen was brought down. (The Washington Post has some excellent diagrams of the layout)
At the bottom of those stairs, guests enter at the back of the ballroom. From there, they are facing the stage on the opposite side. That stage is where Secret Service agents came in from either end to quickly remove the president, vice president, and others.
When you enter, you are actually at a raised tier that surrounds the back of the ballroom. People have to walk down even more steps to get to the main floor. On the raised area, there is usually audio-visual staff and equipment, along with cameras covering the event. On that level, there can be additional seating for a large event. The guests who sit there often complain about how far they are from the stage.
There are additional doors to the ballroom from the lower level that connect to meeting rooms. My experience is those are not usually accessible during secure events .
My reason for describing all of this is two-fold. One is to give you context for where Allen was stopped in relation to the president and other dignitaries. Second, as the videos show, there was a lot of law enforcement on both levels between where the shooting occurred and the president.
Would a White House ballroom have prevented this?
The other issue that’s important to talk about is the concept that a new White House ballroom can solve the security issues of having the president and vice president attend events like this. It’s true. They will always be significantly more secure inside the White House grounds. No argument there. It is a given. But is it realistic?
There are multiple large events at major hotels in Washington every week. These are annual conventions, meetings, and dinners. The organizers often shoot for the stars and make requests many months in advance for the president or vice president to attend. Despite being called the White House Correspondents Association, last night was not a White House event. And neither are most of the other events that request a presidential visit. They are usually held by various private organizations, charities, and corporations.
As you might imagine, the vast majority of the invitations are turned down by the White House. For the small number that get a yes, the organizers often don’t receive the good news until a few weeks out. Sometimes, even less.
This is the point when so many questions enter my addled reporter’s brain. How would this work? Would the organizations suddenly cancel on the Washington Hilton or other hotels and move a long-planned event to the White House with three weeks’ notice? Do you think any of the hotels will just say, no problem, and not charge the organization? Of course, that’s not likely.
Will taxpayers then pay for this organization or corporation to hold the event at the White House? That’s another unlikely scenario. So, will the government bill the organization? If that’s the case, how many organizations could suddenly handle being double billed for their event?
How happy will the hotels be having the White House as their main competition for serious money-making annual events in the nation’s capital? Wait until we hear from the hotel lobbyists about this proposal.
Mine is not a political response or personal opinion about the planned White House ballroom. I will leave that to others. These are just some thoughts and questions I’d ask if I were reporting about the practicality and reality of what’s being discussed after last night’s shooting. Having spent about 50 years watching, attending, and even helping plan gatherings like last night, I’m extremely puzzled by the claim that, in the future, this and other events will be held at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
I also recognize that others know much more about these things than I do. So, if I am missing something, please explain to me how this will work.
