The administration of US President Donald Trump has renewed its push to lift a court ruling barring progress on a new White House ballroom, once again citing gun violence as a reason for pursuing the construction.In a court filing submitted on Sunday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche argued it was “urgent” that the ballroom be completed.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“This is a terrible, tremendously harmful case to the United States of America, and all it stands for!” Blanche wrote, denouncing the lawsuit that has paused construction.As justification, Blanche pointed to the events of last Saturday, when a 21-year-old suspect named Nasire Best approached a White House security checkpoint in Washington, DC, pulled out a gun, and started shooting.One bystander was injured. The suspect was killed after an exchange of gunfire with Secret Service agents. The sound could be heard across the White House lawn, where reporters were seen running for safety.Blanche argued that the incident represented the second time in the span of a month that Trump’s life had been threatened.On April 25, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen had attempted to breach security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where Trump and his top officials were in attendance. After an exchange of gunfire with security, Allen was taken into custody.“This second attack on the President this month underscores the critical need for top level, state of the art security at the White House, including the Ballroom,” Blanche wrote in the filing.He added that the ballroom “is being constructed to ensure that the President can perform his constitutional duties in …
