Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent
Politics
Faith
Liberty

Shots Fired During Correspondents’ Dinner

Posted
Updated

President Donald Trump (R) and other high-ranking U.S. officials were evacuated from a Washington Hilton Hotel ballroom after an attacker charged a security checkpoint and fired at U.S. Secret Service officers. The ballroom was the site of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, an annual event attended by numerous administration officials, media personalities, reporters, and their families. It was the first time Trump attended the event.

The suspect carried multiple weapons including a handgun, shotgun, and multiple knives. A uniformed Secret Service officer was shot once in his bullet-resistant vest and is expected to make a full recovery. There were no other injuries. Witnesses heard between three and eight shots during the incident; it is not clear if this includes any return fire by law enforcement and security officers.

Media reports have identified the gunman as Cole Tomas Allen, a thirty-one year old man from Torrance, California, who was a guest at the hotel. Allen has been charged with assaulting a federal officer and using a firearm in a crime of violence; additional charges are expected. Allen was reportedly not hit by gunfire, but there are conflicting reports about whether or not he was injured during the incident, and he is at an area hospital. Allen’s hotel room and his home in California are now being searched.

The remainder of the correspondents’ dinner was postponed and attendees were told to leave the building. Trump gave a press briefing at the White House about two hours after the incident where he thanked Secret Service officers for their quick response to the attack. Trump said he had wanted to return to the event, but had to follow law enforcement protocol. He and White House Correspondents’ Association officials have pledged to reschedule the event within thirty days.

The Washington Hilton Hotel was also the site of the March 30, 1981, attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan (R).

Special Election 2026 Results

Posted
Updated

Last updated: April 26, 2026, 5:10 a.m.

Ballot Issues
VA Redist. Amendment
100.00% of precincts reporting
Yes:51.61%
No:48.39%

April 20, 2026, 6:45 p.m.: Off on a Tangent is providing limited live coverage of today’s special election results. Polls are scheduled to close at 7:00 p.m. and results should start coming in via the Virginia Department of Elections soon after.

7:06 p.m.: Polls are beginning to close (anybody who was in line at 7:00 p.m. may vote, so it doesn’t happen precisely at the scheduled time). I expect results to start appearing on the Virginia Department of Elections systems soon.

7:27 p.m.: Results are coming in; the referendum is currently too close to call.

8:10 p.m.: With over 70% of precincts reporting, the race remains too close to call.

8:48 p.m.: Over 90% of precincts are now reported and the race is still too close to call.

8:55 p.m.: Some major media outlets—including the Associated Press and Decision Desk HQ—have called the race for “yes” (that is, they believe the referendum has passed). They are probably correct, but my analysis does not yet support calling it.

9:26 p.m.: Tangent call: The redistricting referendum has passed.

9:45 p.m.: This concludes Off on a Tangent’s live coverage for the evening. The results will continue to update periodically and I will continue to post relevant updates (as time permits) until the Virginia State Board of Elections certifies the result.

South Riding Board of Directors, 2026

Posted
South Riding Proprietary

The South Riding Proprietary is a homeowners’ association (HOA) that acts as a de facto local government for the South Riding community in Loudoun County, Virginia. At the proprietary’s annual meeting on May 19, 2026, three of the seven seats on the Board of Directors are up for election. Members of the board serve three year terms. South Riding property owners may cast their votes by attending the annual meeting in person, by mailing a paper ballot, or with a mailed PIN on Votegrity.net.

The three directors at the end of their terms are Michael Beardslee, Marilyn Gardner, and Mark Pontello. Beardslee and Gardner are seeking reelection, and are joined on the ballot by Karen MacDowell and Robert Greene. Property owners may vote for up to three candidates, and have the option to write-in other candidates.

Under the Proprietary’s bylaws, at least ten percent of South Riding property owners must cast votes to achieve a quorum. If a quorum is not achieved, the Board of Directors cannot seat new members or perform work, and the meeting will be recessed for up to a month. When the meeting resumes, the quorum requirement drops to five percent. If a quorum is still not achieved, the meeting may be repeatedly recessed and resumed until reaching the five percent threshold.

Read more . . .

Posted

Back in January, Melissa and I went on a seven-day cruise to the eastern Caribbean. First we spent a few days in San Juan, Puerto Rico, then we boarded the Norwegian Epic for a journey to the British Virgin Islands, Antigua, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Sint Maarten and Saint Martin, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

It was a good thing that we decided to spend that time in San Juan before the cruise, because that meant we were already in Puerto Rico before the airspace shut down for U.S. military operations in Venezuela. Unfortunately a lot of people missed the cruise—I heard rumors that more than a thousand of the expected passengers didn’t make it.

Anyway, this trip was mostly for relaxing. I didn’t take my “real” camera, so all these photos are from my phone, and I didn’t even take pictures of everything  . . . but I still wanted to share the ones I did take. It was a good time.

Read more . . .

Virginia Statewide Ballot Issue, Special, 2026

Posted
Seal of Virginia

Citizens of Virginia will be voting in a special election on April 21, 2026, on a referendum to amend the Constitution of Virginia. Early voting begins on March 6.

Under Article XII, Section 1, of the state constitution, the process requires a proposed amendment to pass both houses of the General Assembly in two sessions with an intervening general election for the House of Delegates, after which it is presented to the voters in a referendum. If approved, the state constitution is modified, and the change can only be reversed by another amendment.

The Virginia General Assembly violated voters’ civil rights to equal protection under the law during the adoption and scheduling processes for this proposed amendment. The first passage occurred during (not before) the 2025 general election, so the proposed amendment cannot be considered for a second passage until after the 2027 general election. Additionally, early voting is scheduled to begin only forty-nine days after the purported second passage; the state constitution requires an interval of at least ninety days.

This referendum is therefore unconstitutional, and it is void regardless of the result. But there is no guarantee that the Supreme Court of Virginia will do the right thing and invalidate it, so I will offer my usual endorsement. I strongly encourage voters to participate so their will is reflected if the court refuses to do its duty.

Read more . . .

Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.