Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, has been identified by multiple media outlets as the suspect in custody following the Saturday shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, attended by US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.
According to CNN, Allen had shared posts comparing Trump to Hitler and even called upon others who criticised his presidency to purchase guns. His activity on social media ranged from posts about video games to angry political messages.
The postings on his handles appear to mirror sentiments from a message Allen allegedly sent to family members prior to the attack, in which he outlined a plan to target Trump administration officials and voiced his grievances over their conduct.
Moreover, investigators told the publication that Allen showed ‘animosity’ towards Trump and his administration.
In 2022, Allen posted mostly about video games on X, urging users to check out his channel on YouTube. His channel featured videos about the Nintendo game Super Smash Bros. before it was taken down.
Comparisons Between Trump And Hitler
However, two years later, the content on his social media had changed. He repeatedly reposted posts that compared Trump to Hitler. He also reposted a post that called for nullifying the election results that year.
After the attempted assassination on Trump in Pennsylvania, Allen shared posts that suggested that the attack could have been staged.
One user commented on the post that he had shared that Trump was “quite capable of having staged a fake assassination attempt on himself to trick the American public”.
Posting Trump’s Criticism
By Trump’s second term, Allen started posting on the Bluesky social media platform. He frequently criticised Trump’s administration and once wrote, “Everyone already knows Trump is a f**king awful person in multiple dimensions, and no one has done sh*t.”
US Attorney General Todd Blanche said that Allen’s connections to left-wing groups are in the process of being probed.
“Put a traitor BACK in office, get treason like, I don’t understand why people are surprised by the US ripping itself apart. I’m pretty sure that’s the expected outcome of having a traitor at the helm,” he wrote in March.
However, his activity on social media did not match the real-world interactions students had with Allen, who was a part-time tutor in Los Angeles. A few of his students were stunned by the news.
Investigators are continuing to piece together the precise sequence of events from that evening, during which Allen allegedly breached a security barrier in an apparent attempt on the president’s life. US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on Monday that additional charges are expected to follow, according to CNN.
Meanwhile, agents have yet to determine exactly how many shots Allen fired, or whether it was one of his bullets that struck a Secret Service agent’s vest. According to Blanche, law enforcement is awaiting ballistics analysis, which may help answer those outstanding questions.