Hosts in the nation’s capital decided to carry on in the wake of a violent incident at the White House correspondents’ dinner.
The music stopped around 8:45 p.m. Saturday as the news spread through the party at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington.
Hosted by the newsletter platform Substack, the party was attended mostly by journalists. When they checked their phones, they saw that there had been gunfire at the Washington Hilton, where President Trump was attending the White House correspondents’ dinner.
Chris Best, the chief executive of Substack, took the stage and tried to reassure the guests. “We believe that we are safe here,” he said.
Olivia Troye, a former adviser to Vice President Mike Pence who is now running for Congress as a Democrat in Virginia, said she had gotten “chills” when she heard the news. “My phone blew up from friends: ‘Are you there? Are you safe?’” she said.
For the next hour, no one was permitted to leave the Substack party. Many guests lined up at the bar. Keith Edwards, a news analyst and YouTuber, said he felt “numb.” Aaron Parnas, a political commentator on TikTok, began filming a video for his followers.