Anti-Trump sentiment being examined as motive for White House press dinner shooting | White House correspondents’ dinner shooting

Investigators believe that the attacker, who tried to violate the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington DC, where the US president and senior members of his administration were present, was motivated by anti-Trump sentiment.

Officials said the attacker likely targeted Donald Trump and other senior administration officials. Acting U.S. attorney Todd Blanche said in a TV appearance: “We believe he was targeting members of his administration as we are still in the early stages of understanding what happened.” report.

A manifesto supporting this was written by the suspect, identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, from Torrance, California. In the alleged manifesto published in full by New York PostAllen created a list of targets to be hit, ranked from highest to lowest, with Trump administration officials at the top.

An official familiar with the matter confirmed to the Guardian that the manifesto published by the Post was genuine.

Speaking with White House officials, White House officials said that the suspected gunman sent letters to his family members listing his complaints against the administration about 10 minutes before the shooting. Associated Press. A relative, confirmed by authorities to be Allen’s brother, contacted police in New London, Connecticut.

The AP also reported that the shooter referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin”; This coincides with the text in the manifesto published by the New York Post.

The New London Police Department told the AP that it was contacted at 10:49 p.m., about two hours after the shooting, by a person who wanted to share information about the incident. The police department said it then immediately notified federal law enforcement.

Multiple US outlets also reported that unnamed officials said Allen’s alleged writings contained anti-Trump sentiments; this mirrored the content of the manifesto published by the New York Post. The Washington Post also reported that the suspect sent letters to this effect to his family; These posts matched Trump’s claims to Fox News that a brother later contacted the police.

Manifest Published by Post He begins by apologizing to those who knew the suspect and lists his reasons for the shooting. It was stated that the attacker targeted administration officials other than FBI director Kash Patel.

The manifesto also states that Secret Service agents can be targets only if necessary, and that hotel security, Capitol police, and national guardsmen will be classified as “non-targets if possible (in other words, if they do not shoot at me).” Hotel employees and guests were not targets.

“I am a citizen of the United States of America,” the letter states. “The actions of my representatives reflect on me. And I will no longer allow a pedophile, rapist and traitor to cover my hands with their crimes.”

He then says: “Turning the other cheek when *another* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the crimes of the oppressor.”

Although the manifesto does not reference Donald Trump by name, it does address complaints about a number of administration actions and recent events, including the U.S. attack on drug smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific.

“I get angry when I think about everything this administration has done,” he later wrote.

Allen is believed to have traveled by train from California to Chicago to Washington, where he checked in as a guest at the hotel days before the gala dinner was held.

According to federal officials, federal agents interviewed Allen’s sister in Maryland; His sister told investigators that her brother legally purchased several guns from a California gun store and hid them at his parents’ Torrance home without their knowledge, according to federal authorities.