Man charged with trying to assassinate Trump at D.C. dinner

WASHINGTON >> The man accused of opening fire at a Washington dinner attended by Donald Trump was charged today with attempting to assassinate the president.

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif., could face a potential life sentence if convicted.

Allen wore a blue jail-issue V-neck shirt and pants at his first appearance in Washington federal court, two days after authorities said they foiled an attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, an annual black-tie gathering of journalists and politicians.

Allen’s hands were cuffed behind his back as U.S. Marshals led him into and out of the courtroom.

At the hearing, prosecutor Jocelyn Ballantine said the weapons Allen brought to Washington included a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and three knives.

“He attempted to assassinate the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump,” Ballantine said.

He also faces charges of illegally transporting a firearm across state lines and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh said at a court hearing.

Allen did not respond to the allegations at the brief hearing. He said he had a master’s degree in computer science. Defense lawyer Tezira Abe said at the hearing that Allen had no prior arrests or convictions.

Sharbaugh ordered Allen held in custody until at least Thursday, when he scheduled a separate court hearing to consider prosecutors’ request that he be detained pending trial.

Allen booked a room at the Washington Hilton hotel, where the dinner took place, and traveled from California to Washington by train, officials have said.

He left a manifesto with family members referring to himself as the “Friendly Federal Assassin” and discussing plans to target senior Trump administration officials, who were present in the hotel ballroom, officials said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt today described the Saturday night attack as the third major assassination attempt against Trump, after two attempts on his life in 2024. She compared the rhetoric in the manifesto to criticism of Trump by his political opponents.

“Much of the manifesto of the would-be assassin is indistinguishable from the words that we hear daily from so many,” Leavitt said. “The entire Democrat Party has made their pitch to voters across the country that Donald Trump poses an existential threat to democracy, that he is a fascist.”

Prominent elected Democrats have condemned the shooting.

The shooting on Saturday rattled the press dinner, a prominent event on Washington’s social calendar, sending attendees scrambling under tables and prompting law enforcement to whisk senior officials out of the room. Trump, who was set to deliver remarks later in the evening, was rushed off the stage by security personnel after shots were fired.

Video footage Trump posted online showed the suspect sprinting through a hallway outside the ballroom.

U.S. officials have said the suspect was subdued just inside a security perimeter and have touted his takedown as a law enforcement success. But the incident has revived concerns about the safety of Trump, who survived two assassination attempts during his 2024 presidential campaign, and other U.S. officials.

Allen, who authorities said was armed with a handgun and multiple knives, in addition to the shotgun, was taken to a local hospital to be evaluated following the shooting.

Additional reporting and writing by Luc Cohen in New York.