Without criticizing President Donald Trump, George Clooney took a moment on Monday to comment on the rise of political violence in the United States.
“I disagree with everything that this administration stands for, but there’s no place for the kind of violence we saw two nights ago in Washington, D.C.,” Clooney said during his acceptance speech. “Nor is there room for this kind of violence in Minnesota with Alex Pretti or Renée Good.”
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, was allegedly armed with a shotgun, handgun, and multiple knives when he breached security checkpoints outside the Washington Hilton ballroom where the dinner was taking place.
Allen is charged with one count of attempt to assassinate the president of the United States, transportation of a firearm & ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.
“I can’t be here on a night like tonight and just ignore everything that’s going on in the world,” Clooney said at the podium.
In mentioning Good and Pretti, Clooney was referencing Operation Metro Surge, in which Good was killed on Jan. 7 by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent and Pretti was killed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Jan. 24.
The incidents led to a political quagmire over the funding of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has been shut down since Feb. 13.
“It seems to me there’s a struggle that has to be won against hatred and corruption and cruelty and violence,” Clooney said from the stage. “It’s a struggle for the very soul of this Republic because to foment hate and violence is to inherit the wind.”
Allen’s alleged attempt to assassinate Trump isn’t the first.
In Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, at a campaign rally, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, fired shots from a nearby rooftop, grazing the President’s right ear.
More recently, in February, Austin Tucker Martin was shot and killed by the Secret Service following his breach of Mar-a-Lago's boundaries armed with a shotgun and a petrol canister.
Clooney ended by advocating for healing the division between Republicans and Democrats, referencing the Make America Great Again slogan.
“The question is simply, what are we, as citizens of this great country, to do and it is that answer in all of us, left, right and center, to build a more perfect union, heal our wounds and begin to truly make America great again,” he said.