Gunman at correspondents’ dinner charged with trying to assassinate Trump

Federal prosecutors on Monday brought attempted assassination charges against the man accused of opening fire one floor above the ballroom of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and writing a manifesto saying he was targeting President Trump and his administration.

Prosecutors updated the charges against Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, who wore a blue prison jumpsuit during his arraignment at U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

He briefly answered Judge Matthew Sharbaugh’s questions about his identity and legal rights but otherwise did not speak.

The charge of attempting to assassinate the president carries a penalty of up to life imprisonment.

Mr. Allen is also charged with the transportation of a firearm and using a firearm during a violent crime. An initial charge of assault of a federal officer was dropped.

He will remain in federal custody on the three charges. A detention hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

Mr. Allen is accused of attempting to breach a security checkpoint around 8:40 p.m. Saturday and shooting a Secret Service agent in a lobby area one floor above the Washington Hilton’s ballroom, where the president, vice president and several of the Cabinet secretaries were seated. The annual dinner draws more than 2,000 people.

Court documents described the scene. As Mr. Allen approached a magnetometer holding a long gun, Secret Service personnel heard a loud gunshot.

A Secret Service officer identified in the document as V.G. was shot once in the chest and was protected by a ballistic vest. Officer V.G. fired several shots at Mr. Allen but did not hit him.

Other agents tackled the suspect to the ground moments after he ran past the magnetometers, authorities said. Mr. Allen suffered minor injuries but no gunshot wounds.

Officials said a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a .38-caliber handgun and several knives were found on Mr. Allen when he was detained.

“Violence has no place in civic life,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a press conference after the hearing. “It cannot and will not be used to disrupt democratic institutions or intimidate those who serve them, and it certainly cannot continue to be used against the president of the United States.”

It marks the fourth attempt on Mr. Trump’s life in less than two years.

A sniper’s bullet grazed Mr. Trump’s ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024. Two months later, another gunman tried to ambush Mr. Trump at a golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, but was foiled by Secret Service agents.

Three months ago, a 21-year-old man drove into the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s Palm Beach residence, armed with a gasoline container and a shotgun. Secret Service agents killed him; the president was not at the home.

The attempt Saturday caused federal agents to rush Mr. Trump and first lady Melania Trump out of the gala to safety.

Vice President J.D. Vance was also in attendance, along with Cabinet members Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., all of whom were evacuated by their security details.

“This one hits a little differently. We were all there. Many of you were there. Many of you who are watching were there as well,” FBI Director Kash Patel, who was also at the dinner, said at Monday’s press conference.

A manifesto that Mr. Allen emailed to relatives just before the shooting said he wanted to target members of the Trump administration “from highest-ranking to lowest.”

“I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” the manifesto reads, in what is believed to be a reference to Mr. Trump.

The document, which was signed “Cole ’coldForce’ ’Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen,” discussed hypothetical rebuttals to Mr. Allen’s reasoning for the alleged assassination attempt and explanations for why he felt compelled to try to kill the president.

“Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. I’m not the person raped in a detention camp. I’m not the fisherman executed without trial,” the manifesto reads.

Mr. Blanche said Mr. Allen traveled across the country by train for four days before checking into a room at the Washington Hilton on Friday.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said the attack marks the third instance in which someone ventured to the nation’s capital to commit a politically motivated crime during her tenure.

She spoke about Elias Rodriguez, the Chicago man accused of gunning down two Israeli Embassy staffers last spring in a shooting motivated by antisemitism, as well as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan refugee living in Washington state who is charged with fatally shooting one National Guard soldier and injuring another around Thanksgiving.

“Let this be a message to anyone who thinks that Washington, D.C., is the place to act out political violence, and if you are willing to do so with a firearm and cross state lines, we will find you,” Ms. Pirro said. “We will track your steps from the inception of your plan, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”

The manifesto also noted how lax security was at the hotel, despite the president’s presence. Mr. Allen wrote that he could have brought a “Ma Deuce,” a nickname for the Browning M2 .50-caliber machine gun, and managed to get by security.

Hotel surveillance footage captured the gun-toting man sprinting past a crew of federal agents in a failed attempt to make it to the ballroom.

Mr. Blanche said an agent fired five shots at the assailant, which prompted the suspect to return fire and hit the agent. None of the agent’s shots struck the gunman, who fell to the ground to take cover and was swarmed by Secret Service agents within seconds.

The acting attorney general echoed comments made by the president and first lady, as well as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, about toning down the rhetoric about Mr. Trump.

He suggested that the media’s coverage of Mr. Trump has contributed to the at-the-barricades mentality demonstrated by some Americans, such as Mr. Allen’s alleged manifesto.

“When you have reporters [and] when you have media just being overly critical and calling the president horrible names for no reason without evidence, without proof, it shouldn’t surprise us that this type of rhetoric takes place,” Mr. Blanche said.

After the attack, Mr. Allen’s sister reportedly told the Secret Service that her brother often made radical statements and hinted at a plan to do “something” to address the issues in the world.

Social media accounts with suspected ties to Mr. Allen posted content critical of the president and his policies.

“I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done,” the manifesto reads.

The suspect had been trained as an engineer and previously interned for NASA. He received his bachelor’s degree from the California Institute of Technology and his master’s from California State University.

He worked as a part-time teacher for the tutoring company C2 Education and also developed video games.

Mr. Allen’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 11.