Ten minutes before shots were fired outside the Washington Hilton on Saturday night, Cole Tomas Allen had already put everything in writing.
Allen, 31, from Torrance, California, was taken into custody after the shooting incident near the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, which was being attended by US President Donald Trump and the first lady. He was stopped at a security checkpoint before he could reach the ballroom, where roughly 2,500 guests had gathered.
Officials told the New York Post that Allen had sent a manifesto to members of his family shortly before the incident. A relative subsequently handed the document to the police. The text, portions of which are available online, offers a detailed account of his reasoning, his intended targets and his assessment of the security arrangements at the venue.
The document was signed: “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen.”
On Why He Acted
In the manifesto, Allen explained at length why he believed his actions were justified.
“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 also wrote, “I am no longer willing to permit a paedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
On Minimising Casualties
Allen also addressed how he planned to approach the attack, including the type of ammunition he had chosen and why.
“In order to minimise casualties, I will also be using buckshot rather than slugs (less penetration through walls). I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people chose to attend a speech by a paedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit), but I really hope it doesn’t come to that,” he wrote.
On Who He Was Targeting
The manifesto named his intended targets as administration officials, ranked in order of seniority. Notably, Allen specifically excluded FBI Director Kash Patel from the list.
“Administration officials (not including [FBI Director Kash] Patel): they are targets, prioritised from highest-ranking to lowest,” he wrote.
On Security At The Washington Hilton
Allen also described how he said he had entered the hotel with multiple weapons without being challenged by anyone.
“The one thing that I immediately noticed walking into the hotel is the sense of arrogance. I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat,” he wrote.
“The security at the event is all outside, focused on protestors and current arrivals, because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before. Like, this level of incompetence is insane, and I very sincerely hope it’s corrected by the time this country gets actually competent leadership again.”
He added, “Like, if I were an Iranian agent, instead of an American citizen, I could have brought a damn Ma Deuce in here, and no one would have noticed shit. Actually insane.”
On “How Doing Something Like This” Feels
“Oh, and if anyone is curious is how doing something like feels: it’s awful. I want to throw up; I want to cry for all the things I wanted to do and never will, for all the people whose trust this betrays; I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done,” he wrote.