Alleged gunman Cole Tomas Allen took selfie in Washington hotel room before trying to assassinate president, prosecutors say
The man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at a Washington hotel allegedly tracked the president’s movements in real time using a website and live video feeds and took a selfie while armed, according to new details released by the US Department of Justice.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, was wearing black pants, a black shirt and a red tie, and had an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife when he took this photo in his room at the Washington Hilton, authorities said. Trump, administration officials and hundreds of journalists were gathering for a White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the hotel on Saturday night.
The government said Allen took off a long black jacket with a shotgun on it as he approached a security checkpoint, “ran” through the metal detector and fired the gun at least once toward the stairs leading to the ballroom, before being arrested and detained.
The new details emerged in the court filing filed by prosecutors from Torrance, California, who wanted Allen to remain in custody.
According to the government memo, a Secret Service agent shot Allen five times, but the defendant was not hit. The government had previously said an agent wearing a ballistic vest was shot in the chest but did not confirm who they believed was responsible.
“He intended to kill and fired his shotgun while attempting to breach security and attack his target. Simply put, the defendant poses an unusually serious danger to the public if released pending trial. The defendant’s lack of criminal history and other personal circumstances do not alter this conclusion,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones wrote.
Federal prosecutors said, “If the defendant had achieved his intended outcome, it would have been one of the darkest days in American history. The defendant traveled across the country with the intention of killing the President of the United States.”
Allen allegedly booked a hotel room at the Washington Hilton about a month after Trump announced he would attend the annual dinner there in early March. The government said at the time that Allen searched online for the term “White House Correspondents’ Dinner 2026.”
In the days that followed and during his train trip to Washington, Allen allegedly used his cell phone to access a number of online articles about the dinner and the anticipated event schedule.
On April 25, the day of the dinner, prosecutors said Allen used his phone to access a website that tracked the president’s movements based on publicly available scheduling information. In the half-hour leading up to the alleged attack, he took a mirror photo of himself and accessed a live video feed of Trump’s drive to the hotel, according to the filing.
Investigators said the prearranged emails, which included an “Apology and Explanation” attachment, were sent around 8:30 p.m.
Prosecutors have previously said Allen sent a manifesto to friends and family that appeared to claim responsibility for a planned attack involving Trump and other administration officials, but did not name the president.
At the end of the letter, Allen wrote that he felt “terrible” but “had an experience.”[d] I feel angry thinking about everything this administration has done, according to the government.
He finished with the following words: “I really can’t recommend it! Stay in school, kids.”
Allen appeared in court on Monday and was charged with a number of crimes, including the attempted assassination of the president. He faces life imprisonment if convicted of attempted assassination. One of his lawyers, Tezira Abe, stated that he had no criminal record and said that “he is currently considered innocent.”
Trump was removed from the stage by his security team and emerged at the White House two hours after the incident, still wearing his tuxedo.
“When you’re effective, they come after you. When you’re not impressive, they leave you alone,” he said. “They think he’s a lone wolf.”
A detention hearing for Allen is scheduled for Thursday in federal district court in Washington.
AP, Bloomberg
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