The man accused of opening fire at a Washington dinner attended by Donald Trump was charged yesterday with attempting to assassinate the US president and could face life in prison if convicted.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, wore a blue jail-issue V-neck shirt and pants at his first appearance in Washington federal court, two days after authorities said he launched an unsuccessful attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, an annual black-tie gathering of journalists and politicians. His hands were cuffed behind his back as he was led into and out of the courtroom.
“He attempted to assassinate the president of the United States, Donald J Trump,” prosecutor Jocelyn Ballantine said. The incident is the latest in a pattern of political violence in the US. Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead at a rally last September, months after a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband were killed.
Trump himself was the target of two assassination attempts in the 2024 presidential campaign. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters after the hearing that investigators believe Allen targeted Trump in part because he appeared to refer to the president as a ‘traitor’ and called him other epithets in an email he sent to relatives the night of the incident.
“Violence has no place in civil life,” Blanche told reporters. “It cannot and will not be used to disrupt democratic institutions, and it certainly cannot continue to be used against the president of the United States.”
Allen, of Torrance, California, also faces charges of illegally transporting a firearm across state lines and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. Ballantine said Allen brought a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and three knives to Washington, while a court filing also said he was armed with a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38 caliber semi-automatic handgun. Blanche said authorities recovered a spent shell casing inside the shotgun in a sign it had been fired.
Allen did not respond to the allegations at the brief hearing. He said he had a master’s degree in computer science. Defence lawyer Tezira Abe said at the hearing that Allen had no prior arrests or convictions. US Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh ordered Allen held in custody until at least Thursday, when he is due to return to court for a hearing to consider whether he should be held in jail until trial.
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