Fact Check: Did WHCD shooting suspect Cole Allen appear with Usha Vance in a 2017 video?
WASHINGTON, DC: In the aftermath of the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, a rumor has been circulating on social media platforms claiming that Second Lady Usha Vance appeared in a 2017 video with the shooter, Cole Thomas Allen, sparking speculations and theories. Let us analyze and fact-check the video.
Claim: Usha Vance appeared in a 2017 video with Cole Allen
A television news clip from 2017 has resurfaced, showing Usha Vance, wife of Vice President JD Vance, alongside White House shooting suspect Cole Allen, sparking conspiracy theories that the incident was staged.
One Instagram post spreading the rumor captioned the video, "A resurfaced video from Los Angeles ABC 7 shows the White House Correspondents Dinner suspect in the same March 2017 news clip with Usha Vance. What a coincidence."
The video has been shared on multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, Threads, and X, garnering millions of views.
Fact Check: Fake, the woman in the video is not Usha Vance
However, users sharing the video miscaptioned the footage. The video is authentic and shows Cole Allen at a 2017 event, but the woman in the clip is not Usha Vance; she is Arati Desai Wagabaza, founder and then-CEO of SmallCircles, a startup that appeared at the event.
The original clip is from KABC in Los Angeles in March 2017 and was part of a news segment about an 'Aging into the Future' technology conference in the city.
Moreover, Vance was residing in Washington, DC, during that period, where she clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts during the Supreme Court's 2017-18 term.
The original report, titled 'Aging into the Future' conference brings new tech to help seniors,' identified Allen as a California Institute of Technology student demonstrating a wheelchair emergency-brake device. Fox News recently reposted the footage.
Suspect charged in assassination attempt on Donald Trump
Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old accused of carrying out the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, has been charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump, along with multiple firearms offenses.
A federal judge ordered Allen to remain in custody pending further proceedings, granting prosecutors’ request to hold him without release for now.
A hearing later this week will determine whether he will be detained as the case moves forward.
Allen appeared in a Washington, DC, courtroom wearing a blue prison jumpsuit, flanked by US Marshals during the brief hearing.
