“No one checked my ID”: BBC correspondent outlines security when entering activity

The BBC's main North America correspondent, Gary O'Donoghue, attended the White House Correspondents' Evening Meal in Washington last night. To BBCHe described the atmosphere inside the hotel hall:

I walked several blocks to the hotel, then showed the invitation to someone who saw it from about two feet away. Nobody checked my ID.

I was checked a little while in the hall, but even when the flare made a noise, I was not asked to empty my pockets.

The Secret Service did its job; they stopped this person from entering the hall.

But that security perimeter was right outside the hall door, and the hotel, of course, was full of regular guests. ”