Man charged with trying to kill Trump at dinner took photo with knife in hotel, investigators say

The man charged with trying to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and kill President Donald Trump took a picture of himself in his hotel room just minutes earlier, outfitted with an ammunition bag, shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife, authorities said Wednesday in a new court filing.

Cole Allen wore black pants, a black shirt and a red tie as he snapped the image in his room at the Washington Hilton, the venue where Trump and hundreds of journalists were meeting for a gala Saturday night, authorities say.

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Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was captured when he tried to race past security barricades near the ballroom, prompting an exchange of gunfire with Secret Service agents tasked with safeguarding the event, authorities say. Allen’s federal defender says he’s presumed innocent.

Trump, a Republican, was not hurt and was rushed off the stage by his security team.

“When you’re impactful, they go after you. When you’re not impactful, they leave you alone,” Trump, safe and uninjured and still in his tuxedo, said at the White House two hours later. “They seem to think he was a lone wolf.”

New details emerged in a court filing made by prosecutors who want Allen to remain in custody.

The government said he repeatedly made online checks to keep track of Trump’s status that night, including live coverage of the president exiting his vehicle at the Hilton hotel. Investigators said preset emails with an “Apology and Explanation” attachment were sent at approximately 8:30 p.m.

“He intended to kill and fired his shotgun while trying to breach security and attack his target. Put simply, the defendant poses an uncommonly serious danger to the community 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.

An FBI affidavit filed in the case on Monday revealed other details about the planning behind the assault, with authorities alleging that Allen on April 6 reserved a room for himself at the Washington hotel where the event would be held weeks later under its typical tight security. He traveled by train cross-country from California last week, checking himself into the Washington Hilton one day before the dinner with a room reserved for the weekend.

The dinner had barely begun when, officials say, Allen tried to race past security barricades near the cavernous ballroom holding hundreds of journalists and their guests, authorities said. Allen carried with him a 12-gauge pump action shotgun he bought last year and a .38 caliber semiautomatic pistol he purchased in 2023, authorities said.

Allen was injured during the attack but was not shot. A Secret Service officer was shot but was wearing a bullet-resistant vest and survived, officials say.

Ed White, The Associated Press