The man accused in the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, DC, on Saturday was arraigned in a federal court on charges of trying to assassinate the US President and two firearms crimes.
If convicted, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, faces a life sentence.
Represented by two assistant public defenders, Allen entered no plea during the arraignment. One of his lawyers, Tezira Abe, said that Allem doesn’t have a criminal record and “is presumed innocent at this time,” news agency AP reported
What Happened At The Washington Correspondents’ Dinner Event
US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and several senior officials and journalists were attending the dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, when the situation unfolded.
Allen bypassed security and fired shots as he moved towards the venue. He was arrested by law enforcement while the president and vice president were taken to safety.
Who Is Cole Tomas Allen?
A graduate from California Institute of Technology, Allen is a mechanical engineer, computer scientist, indie game developer, and part-time teacher based in the Los Angeles area.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2017 and later completed a Master’s degree in Computer Science from California State University-Dominguez Hills.
About ten minutes before Allen opened fire, he sent an anti-Trump manifesto to members of his family.
Signed under the name “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen,” the document described his reasoning, his intended targets and his assessment of the security arrangements at the venue.
“Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. I’m not the person raped in a detention camp. I’m not the fisherman executed without trial. I’m not a schoolkid blown up, or a child starved, or a teenage girl abused by the many criminals in this administration. Turning the other cheek when someone else is oppressed is not Christian behaviour; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes,” he wrote, according to a report by The New York Post.
He added, “I am no longer willing to permit a paedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
In the manifesto, Allen referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin.”