White House dinner gunman charged with attempted assassination of Trump
The armed suspect who allegedly tried to storm past security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday has been charged with the attempted assassination of US President Donald Trump.
Cole Allen, 31, a teacher from California, was allegedly armed with a 12 gauge pump action shotgun, a .38-caliber semi-automatic pistol and three knives when he was arrested after his attempt to rush the high-end event on Saturday, Assistant US Attorney Jocelyn Ballantine told a federal court in Washington on Monday.
Federal prosecutors have charged Allen with attempted assassination of the president, interstate transportation of weapons, and discharge of a firearm during a violent crime.
The suspect did not have to enter a plea at this time.
US Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh ordered detention for Allen while the case moves forward. The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday, when it will be determined whether he is eligible for pretrial release.
Allen’s preliminary hearing was set for May 11.
Despite charging Allen with attempting to assassinate the president, US Attorney General Todd Blanche made it clear that the suspect had no chance to get to Trump.
“This man was a floor above the ballroom, with hundreds of federal agents between him and the president of the US,” he said in a press conference after the court hearing.
When asked whether the investigation has determined who shot a Secret Service agent during Allen’s alleged assassination attempt, Blanche declined to answer directly, stressing that the evidence is still being studied.
“It appears… that there were five shots that law enforcement fired,” he said. “We believe, as the complaint lays out, that the defendant fired the shotgun… But as far as getting into exacting ballistics, I’m not going to do that today.”
In a manifesto Allen purportedly wrote, first published by the New York Post, the suspect said he was aiming to kill administration officials, with the “highest-ranking” target being Trump, whom he called “a pedophile, rapist, and traitor.”
