Overview
- Cole Tomas Allen, 31, was charged Monday with attempted assassination and firearms crimes and was ordered held pending a detention hearing on Thursday.
- During Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ dinner at the Washington Hilton, he allegedly ran a checkpoint with a shotgun and a pistol, triggering gunfire that struck a Secret Service agent’s vest as President Trump was evacuated and the event was canceled.
- An FBI affidavit says the attack was planned weeks in advance, noting an April 6 room reservation at the Hilton and travel from California to Washington before the gala.
- Investigators seized electronic devices and point to a pre-attack email in which Allen called himself a “friendly federal killer,” along with archived posts that shifted from gaming to harsh anti-Trump messages.
- Ballistics testing and device forensics are still underway, prosecutors say more charges could follow, and security practices are under review as false claims and conspiracy content spread rapidly online.