(The Hill) — The alleged gunman at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump, Justice Department prosecutors said Monday at an initial court appearance.
Cole Allen, 31, faces three federal charges over his alleged efforts to violently disrupt the annual black-tie dinner for journalists and public officials.
He’s accused of storming a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton, where the dinner was held, and shooting a U.S. Secret Service agent in his protective vest. Surveillance video posted by President Trump appeared to capture the armed dash.
If convicted of attempting to assassinate Trump, he faces a sentence of up to life in prison.
The other two charges are transporting a firearm or ammunition in interstate commerce with the intent to commit a felony and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. The former carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, and the latter carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years to run consecutively with any other sentence.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said Saturday that additional charges are likely. She also said Allen would face a charge of assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, which was not among the counts unveiled Monday, calling into question whether his weapon was discharged or struck law enforcement.
“Any suggestion that he wasn’t there to do harm is absurd,” Pirro said at a press conference Monday.
Allen is due back in court Thursday for a detention hearing. His preliminary hearing was set for May 11, unless a grand jury returns an indictment first.
At Monday’s hearing, Allen appeared in cobalt blue prison apparel and maintained a stone-faced demeanor. When he stood to address the judge, he towered over his public defenders.
Heavy-hitting prosecutors are taking the lead for the government, including Jocelyn Ballantine, who oversaw the seditious conspiracy prosecution of the Proud Boys in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack under former President Biden’s administration. Charles Jones, the prosecutor leading the DOJ’s case against D.C. pipe bomb suspect Brian Cole, also made an appearance.
Federal public defenders Eugene Ohm and Tezira Abe are representing Allen.
A LinkedIn account that appears to belong to Allen shows he holds a master’s degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills, and an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology. He works as a teacher.
Allen is believed to have acted alone when he rushed the ballroom Saturday. The president was rushed out of the Washington Hilton ballroom shortly after shots were fired.
Law enforcement has said Allen booked a room at the hotel and traveled from California to the nation’s capital by train.
Ballentine told the court that Allen was armed with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol, three knives and “other dangerous paraphernalia.”
The shooting rattled the dinner’s attendees, who dropped to the floor and under tables after shots rang out and law enforcement began ushering senior officials to secure locations.
Allen was allegedly targeting White House officials “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” according to a manifesto that an administration official confirmed to The Hill was written by the suspect. In the writings, he refers to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin.”
A White House official told The Hill that Allen’s sister informed authorities her brother had a tendency to “make radical statements,” frequently referencing a plan to do “something” to address issues with today’s world. She also confirmed he purchased two handguns and a shotgun that were stored at their parents’ home without their knowledge.
Allen’s brother notified New London, Conn., police of the alleged manifesto just minutes before the incident occurred, the official said.
It would mark the third prominent assassination attempt on Trump’s life, following one at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., and another in West Palm Beach, Fla., where Trump was golfing.
Trump was grazed by a bullet at the Pennsylvania event, where the gunman was shot and killed. The man who attempted to attack him in Florida was convicted by a jury last year and sentenced to life in prison.
Trump has said that the dinner should be rescheduled within 30 days.
According to newly unsealed charging documents, Allen made his hotel reservation on April 6 for three nights, from April 24 to April 26. The dinner was on Saturday, April 25. He stopped in Chicago on his way to D.C. from Los Angeles.
Secret Service “heard a loud gunshot” as Allen charged the security checkpoint brandishing a long gun, the documents say. A Secret Service officer was shot once in the chest, wearing a ballistic vest, but it’s not clear from the charging documents whether it was Allen’s bullet that allegedly hit him. The Secret Service officer fired multiple times at Allen but did not strike him.
