Correspondents' dinner suspect charged with attempting assassination

by · UPI

April 27 (UPI) -- Cole Allen was charged Monday with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump after allegedly opening fire at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner over the weekend.

Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif., was arraigned in federal court in Washington, D.C., where he was also charged with discharging a firearm with intent to commit a felony and transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce, according to the criminal complaint.

During the hearing, federal prosecutors asked that Allen be detained pending his trial. The judge set a detention hearing for April 30.

"Cole Allen's journey of accountability in the criminal justice system starts today," U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro for the District of Columbia said during a press conference held after Allen's initial court appearance.

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If convicted, Allen faces up to life imprisonment for the attempted assassination charge, up to 10 years for the transportation of a firearm offense and a minimum of 10 years to life for the discharge of a weapon charge.

More charges were likely, Pirro said, as she defended the Justice Department's decision to file an attempted assassination count against Allen, saying he allegedly made his intent clear in a so-called manifesto emailed to family members and a former employer.

"You can look at it and read it and it may seem kind of la-la-la, but at the end, make no mistake, he says, 'I am targeting the administration officials. They are my targets and I'm prioritizing from the top down, the highest ranking from the lowest. And I will not hesitate to get involved in any kind of encounter with anyone who blocks me from the president,' " she said, seemingly paraphrasing the document.

An excerpt of the document included in the affidavit supporting the complaint states, "Administration officials (not including [FBI Director Kash] Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest."

The affidavit also outlines the alleged events leading up to the incident.

According to the court document, federal law enforcement officers allege that on April 6, Allen made a hotel reservation for Friday through Sunday at the Washington Hilton, where the correspondents' dinner was to be held on Saturday night.

He allegedly traveled by train from California to Illinois on April 21, arriving in Chicago on April 23, the same day law enforcement accused him of boarding a second train in Chicago that arrived in Washington, D.C., on Friday at about 1 p.m. EDT.

Law enforcement then accused him of checking into his Washington Hilton room at 3 p.m. and then staying there until the Saturday night dinner.

"He is very much aware that the president and the first lady entered the ballroom at 8 p.m. And it was at 8:40 that he made a decision to rush the ballroom," Pirro said.

"And thank goodness, law enforcement, the Secret Service was able to prevent him from getting into that ballroom."

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said during the press conference that Allen allegedly ran through the magnetometer at a security checkpoint a floor above where the dinner was taking place while armed with a long gun.

The affidavit states a loud gunshot was heard and a Secret Service member was shot in the bullet-resistant vest, but does not state whether the round was fired by Allen.

During the press conference, Blanche said authorities believe that the officer was shot by Allen, resulting in the discharge of a firearm charge, but ballistics are still being examined.

"I can tell you from what I know with the understanding that we're a day and a half in that this is the gun that he discharged," Blanche said, pointing to a large poster of the 12-gauge shotgun.

Pirro said the agent who was shot in the chest fired on Allen. Blanche said law enforcement fired five rounds in total, none of which struck Allen, who fell to the ground and was arrested.

Pirro, a former television host, described Allen's injuries, for which he was transported to the hospital, as "some kind of scrape on his knee."

The agent who was shot has been released from the hospital, Blanche said.

Authorities allege that along with the shotgun, Allen was armed with a .38-caliber semi-automatic pistol and three knives.

Both firearms were allegedly purchased in California: the shotgun on Aug. 17, and the pistol on Oct. 6, 2023.

"So, any suggestions that he wasn't there to do harm is absurd," Pirro said.

Authorities said search warrants have been executed in California and Washington and that investigators were interviewing witnesses who attended the dinner.

In echoing Trump's comments to the press the night of the shooting, Blanche called for political rhetoric to be toned down and suggested media criticism of the president had contributed to the attack.

"When you have reporters, when you have media just being overly critical and calling the president horrible names for no reason and without evidence, without proof, it shouldn't surprise us that this type of [violence] takes place," he said.

Pirro had predicted in a news conference Sunday that Allen would be formally charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.

Beyond that, Pirro said investigators were working to discover the suspect's possible motivation.

Authorities believe the suspect acted alone in the incident.

Trump said Sunday that a suspect arrested in connection with the shooting had written an anti-administration manifesto that allegedly stated he was targeting members of the Trump administration.

He said that, based on the contents of the document, the suspect was "a sick guy" and anti-Christian.

"When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians. That's one thing for sure. He hates Christians, a hatred. And I think his sister or his brother actually was complaining about it. You know, they were even complaining to law enforcement. So he was, he was a very troubled guy," Trump said.

The New London Police Department in Connecticut confirmed being contacted about two hours after the alleged attack at around 10:49 p.m. on Saturday "by an individual who expressed concern about the incident that occurred at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner earlier in the evening."

Allen was a mechanical engineering graduate from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and also had a master's degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson City, the Los Angeles Times reported.

His LinkedIn profile states he was a member of Caltech's Christian fellowship, as well as the Nerf club.

More recently, he was working as a developer of video games and as a part-time private tutor teaching math and biology.

Allen's voter registration record denotes "no party preference" and the only known record of any political donation in the past 10 years dates from 2024, when he gave $25, via an online fundraising platform, to former Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign in the November 2024 election.

Scenes from the 2026 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump participate in the 2026 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington on April 25, 2026. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo