The Department of Justice released documents on Wednesday that shed new light on the alleged assassination attempt against President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday.
The legal filing provides previously unknown details about the steps the alleged attacker, Cole Tomas Allen, is believed to have taken in the days leading up to and the minutes before the attack. It also includes a photo Allen took of himself shortly before the attack, showing multiple weapons strapped to his body.
The attack occurred on Saturday night at the White House Correspondents’ Association’s annual gala, where the president, vice president, high-ranking Trump administration officials and many high-profile members of the political press were in attendance. Though no one was seriously hurt, the sound of gunshots led to a chaotic scene inside the ballroom of the Washington Hilton, as the Secret Service rushed the president to safety and other attendees dove for cover.
Here’s what we know about what happened during the attack and how authorities say the suspect prepared to make an attempt on the president’s life.
Who is the alleged attacker?
Cole Thomas Allen is a 31-year-old teacher from Torrance, Calif. He graduated from the California Institute of Technology with a degree in mechanical engineering in 2017. He was a member of the Nerf Club and belonged to a campus Christian fellowship, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also reportedly tutored several high school students for a nonprofit in the Torrance area.
He is not registered as a member of any political party. His only political donation on record was $25 he gave to Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign in 2024.
How did Allen allegedly prepare for the attack?
According to court documents, Allen bought the shotgun used in the attack last August. He had purchased the pistol he was carrying in 2023. He traveled from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., by train, a journey that took three days. While en route, he allegedly researched details of the correspondents’ dinner on his phone. He checked into the Washington Hilton the day before the event.
About half an hour before the attack, he took a selfie in his hotel room mirror showing the various weapons he had strapped to his body, the documents say. In the minutes before, Allen allegedly used his cellphone to look up Trump’s location using a website called CivicTracker and watched live news coverage of the event.
What happened during the attack?
At around 8:30 p.m. on April 25, roughly half an hour after the dinner had started, Allen allegedly charged a security checkpoint while holding his shotgun. Surveillance video shows a suspect running at full sprint toward a group of security officers standing near a metal detector.
In a chaotic few seconds of footage, the suspect runs past the officers, allegedly firing his shotgun at one point. One of the officers fires his pistol multiple times. None of the rounds struck Allen, who fell to the ground outside the view of the security camera and was arrested.
Inside the ballroom, the Secret Service moved quickly to get Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other members of the Trump administration to safety as the hundreds of other guests in attendance ducked under tables.
After the incident, there were some brief indications that the dinner might continue as planned, but the ballroom was eventually cleared. Trump later said the event would be rescheduled within 30 days.
Was anyone hurt?
The government says that one Secret Service officer was shot in the chest, but avoided serious injury because he was wearing a bulletproof vest. It’s unclear at what point the officer may have been shot. A recent analysis of security camera video by the Washington Post does not appear to show Allen’s gun firing as he charged the security checkpoint, though some of the incident takes place outside of the camera’s field of view. In an affidavit, the DOJ says there was “one spent cartridge” in the barrel of Allen’s shotgun when he was arrested.
The video shows the officer firing at least four shots from his pistol. None of them struck Allen, who sustained only minor injuries while being arrested.
How close did he get to Trump?
Allen was apprehended at a security checkpoint on the floor above the ballroom where the White House correspondents’ dinner was being held. He was stopped near the top of a set of stairs leading down to the ballroom. The president was seated at a table on the opposite side of the room from the entrance closest to where Allen was apprehended.
What weapons did he have?
DOJ documents say Allen was carrying a 12-gauge pump shotgun and .38 caliber pistol, with a significant amount of additional ammunition. He was also allegedly carrying two knives and four daggers.
In an email Allen purportedly sent out before the attack, he said that he was using buckshot, a form of shotgun ammunition often used by hunters, to minimize casualties.
Weapons allegedly found on Cole Allen.
(U.S, Dept. of Justice)
Suspect reportedly sent an email to loved ones before the attack
According to the DOJ, Allen sent an email to family and friends just a few minutes before he charged the security checkpoint. In the message, he repeatedly apologized to different groups of people that he lied to in his preparations for the attack and for any fallout that may come afterward.
Though the message doesn’t mention Trump by name, it does reference allegations made against the president.
“I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” Allen purportedly wrote.
The email also specifically labels members of the Trump administration as “targets” and says that the Secret Service and other security officers are targets “only if necessary.”
He allegedly signed the message with the moniker “Friendly Federal Assassin.”
What is he charged with?
Allen has been charged with three federal crimes: Attempting to assassinate the president of the United States, discharging a firearm in an act of violence and transporting firearms across state lines.
What’s next?
Allen is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday for a detention hearing. The DOJ has asked the judge to keep him in custody until his trial.
