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The alleged gunman who stormed the White House correspondents’ dinner with several weapons on Saturday has been charged with the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, facing the possibility of life in prison, along with two additional firearms counts.The suspect, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, didn’t enter a plea when he made his first appearance in federal court on Monday. He was ordered to remain behind bars pending additional court hearings. “There will be additional charges as this investigation continues to unfold,” said Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. “Make no mistake: this was an attempted assassination of the president of the United States, with the defendant making clear what his intent was, and that intent was to bring down as many of the high-ranking Cabinet officials as he could.”Allen laid out that plan in a message sent to family members minutes before the attack. The note, which was included as part of the FBI’s affidavit filed in the case, said that he didn’t intend to harm law enforcement or guests, but added that he would go through “most everyone” at the event if necessary to get to targets in the administration. He didn’t mention the president by name but said he would prioritize officials “highest-ranking to lowest.” Allen signed the email referring to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin.” He said he felt compelled to attack as a U.S. citizen because “what my representatives do reflects on me.” The affidavit also revealed more details about the timeline, saying Allen made a reservation at the Washington Hilton on April 6th and checked in on April 24th, the day before the dinner. Authorities say he charged through a security checkpoint with several weapons but was quickly stopped by Secret Service agents, while the president was rushed off stage unharmed in the ballroom one floor below the encounter. One Secret Service agent was shot during the incident but was protected by a bulletproof vest. The affidavit does not directly say that Allen was responsible for shooting the officer. The Justice Department says they’re still looking into who fired the bullet. Officials say Allen was injured but not shot. At a press conference on Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president was satisfied with the security response, but some changes could be made ahead of future events. She said a meeting will be held early this week to review security protocols. “We’re always looking for ways to improve security. I think if you just sit here and say everything is perfect all the time, that’s not a good way to operate, and so the White House will continue to engage with DHS and Secret Service to find ways to improve and strengthen security,” Leavitt said. Despite some criticism of the precautions at the event, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche insisted that it was not a security failure. “Law enforcement did not fail. They did exactly what they are trained to do,” Blanche said.
The alleged gunman who stormed the White House correspondents’ dinner with several weapons on Saturday has been charged with the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, facing the possibility of life in prison, along with two additional firearms counts.
The suspect, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, didn’t enter a plea when he made his first appearance in federal court on Monday. He was ordered to remain behind bars pending additional court hearings.
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“There will be additional charges as this investigation continues to unfold,” said Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. “Make no mistake: this was an attempted assassination of the president of the United States, with the defendant making clear what his intent was, and that intent was to bring down as many of the high-ranking Cabinet officials as he could.”
Allen laid out that plan in a message sent to family members minutes before the attack. The note, which was included as part of the FBI’s affidavit filed in the case, said that he didn’t intend to harm law enforcement or guests, but added that he would go through “most everyone” at the event if necessary to get to targets in the administration. He didn’t mention the president by name but said he would prioritize officials “highest-ranking to lowest.”
Allen signed the email referring to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin.” He said he felt compelled to attack as a U.S. citizen because “what my representatives do reflects on me.”
The affidavit also revealed more details about the timeline, saying Allen made a reservation at the Washington Hilton on April 6th and checked in on April 24th, the day before the dinner.
Authorities say he charged through a security checkpoint with several weapons but was quickly stopped by Secret Service agents, while the president was rushed off stage unharmed in the ballroom one floor below the encounter.
One Secret Service agent was shot during the incident but was protected by a bulletproof vest. The affidavit does not directly say that Allen was responsible for shooting the officer. The Justice Department says they’re still looking into who fired the bullet. Officials say Allen was injured but not shot.
At a press conference on Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president was satisfied with the security response, but some changes could be made ahead of future events. She said a meeting will be held early this week to review security protocols.
“We’re always looking for ways to improve security. I think if you just sit here and say everything is perfect all the time, that’s not a good way to operate, and so the White House will continue to engage with DHS and Secret Service to find ways to improve and strengthen security,” Leavitt said.
Despite some criticism of the precautions at the event, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche insisted that it was not a security failure.
“Law enforcement did not fail. They did exactly what they are trained to do,” Blanche said.
