Defendant in press gala attack charged with attempting to assassinate Trump.
- The San Juan Daily Star
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
By ZACH MONTAGUE, DEVLIN BARRETT, MAGGIE OBERMAN, AMY QIN and KATIE ROGERS
The Justice Department formally charged a California man with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump on Monday, two days after investigators said he broke past a security perimeter and fired a gun during the White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington.
The defendant, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, wore a neon blue jumpsuit for his brief appearance before a federal magistrate in Washington. He appeared calm and quietly answered prompts from the judge, who told him he faced up to life in prison if convicted.
Allen, who did not enter a plea, came to Washington with a pump-action shotgun, a handgun and three knives with the intent to carry out a political assassination, a federal prosecutor told the judge. Allen also faces two weapons charges, including discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
A note that the authorities said had been written by the defendant appeared to express deep anger at the administration and the president. Administration figures were the defendant’s “targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” according to a copy of the roughly 1,000-word document, part of which was included in an affidavit unsealed after Allen’s court appearance.
Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, told reporters after the hearing that a spent shotgun shell had been found inside the weapon found at the scene, indicating it had been fired during the episode. “We do believe that, as the complaint lays out, that the defendant fired out of his shotgun,” Blanche said.
According to the affidavit, agents “heard a loud gunshot” as Allen rushed through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton and a Secret Service officer, identified by the initials V.G., was struck once in the chest but protected by his bulletproof vest. Blanche said investigators were still working to determine who had fired that shot.
“We want to get that right, so we are still looking at that,” he said.
Blanche said the officer who was struck fired five shots at Allen but did not hit him.
— The defendant: Allen worked as a tutor and graduated from the California Institute of Technology. Those who know him are struggling to reconcile the man they knew with the political violence that he is accused of.
— Shooting scene: Investigators have said Allen took a train from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then from Chicago to Washington, before checking into the Washington Hilton, where the shooting occurred. President Ronald Reagan was shot outside the same hotel in 1981.
— Casting blame: Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, blamed Democrats and some members of the news media for the violence. She attributed it to a “left-wing cult of hatred against the president and all of those who support him and work for him.”
— Presidential security: Officials insisted that the security measures at the dinner worked as intended, noting that the assailant never made it into the ballroom. Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, will hold a meeting this week with the Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security and other officials to review security practices, including for major events in the coming months, according to a White House official.
— Ballroom push: Republicans took up the president’s call to urge Congress to approve funding for the White House ballroom project, saying that Saturday’s attack underscored the need for a more secure location on White House grounds for such events.