An intelligence report found that the US-Israeli war with Iran could be a potential motive for the man who was accused of attempting to assassinate US President Donald Trump and other senior members of the administration last month at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
According to a report by Reuters, a preliminary assessment by the US Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis last month concluded that the Iran war “may have contributed to his decision to conduct the attack”. The analysis mentioned that the suspect Cole Tomas Allen was critical of US actions in the war.
The evaluation, dated April 27, also noted that Allen had “multiple social and political grievances”.
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Although the assessment is preliminary, it throws new light on the US government’s search for motive in the attack on April 25.
Prosecutors on Tuesday expanded the case against Allen, with the US Justice Department adding a new count of assaulting a federal officer. The charge stems from allegations that he opened fire on a US Secret Service agent at a security checkpoint.
Allen already faces counts of attempted assassination, using a firearm during a violent crime, and unlawfully transporting a weapon and ammunition across state lines. Allen has yet to enter a plea.
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According to court documents, prosecutors alleged that Allen “disagreed” with Trump politically and “wanted to ‘fight back’ against government policies and decisions that he found morally objectionable”.
A senior law enforcement official told Reuters that the FBI is looking at Allen’s social media activity for an explanation for the motive of the attack.
“It’s being closely looked at,” the official told Reuters.
Allen’s Bluesky account showed that he had shared a series of posts critical of Trump leading up to the attack. The posts criticised US actions in Iran, the Trump administration’s handling of immigration enforcement, Elon Musk, and Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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He called for Trump to be impeached over his April 7 threat to destroy Iranian civilisation, hours before the Republican president agreed to a ceasefire. The account also condemned reporters who planned to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
The FBI has examined a 2024 social media post tied to Allen in which, while citing a Bible verse, he appears to label Trump as “the devil” in a reply to a message from Trump’s daughter, Tiffany.
Officials say the scrutiny of Allen’s online footprint is partly aimed at heading off misinformation about his motives. They noted that after a gunman opened fire at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024, speculation about the attacker’s digital activity quickly spiralled into widespread conspiracy theories.