By Andrew Goudsward and Blake Brittain
WASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) – The man accused of opening fire at the venue of a Washington dinner attended by Donald Trump was charged on Monday with attempting to assassinate the U.S. president and could face life in prison if convicted.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, wore a blue jail-issue V-neck shirt and pants at his first appearance in Washington federal court, two days after authorities said he launched an unsuccessful attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, an annual black-tie gathering of journalists and politicians. His hands were cuffed behind his back as he was led into and out of the courtroom.
“He attempted to assassinate the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump,” prosecutor Jocelyn Ballantine said.
The incident is the latest in a pattern of political violence in the United States. Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead at a rally last September, months after a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband were killed. Trump himself was the target of two assassination attempts in the 2024 presidential campaign.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters after the hearing that investigators believe Allen targeted Trump in part because he appeared to refer to the president as a “traitor” and called him other epithets in an email he sent to relatives the night of the incident.
“Violence has no place in civil life,” Blanche told reporters. “It cannot and will not be used to disrupt democratic institutions, and it certainly cannot continue to be used against the president of the United States.”
ALLEN TO BE HELD IN JAIL
Allen, of Torrance, California, also faces charges of illegally transporting a firearm across state lines and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Ballantine said Allen brought a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and three knives to Washington, while a court filing also said he was armed with a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38 caliber semi-automatic handgun.
Blanche said authorities recovered a spent shell casing inside the shotgun in a sign it had been fired.
Allen did not respond to the allegations at the brief hearing. He said he had a master’s degree in computer science. Defense lawyer Tezira Abe said at the hearing that Allen had no prior arrests or convictions.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh ordered Allen held in custody until at least Thursday, when he is due to return to court for a hearing to consider whether he should be held in jail until trial.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington, told reporters that additional charges would be brought against Allen.
‘FRIENDLY FEDERAL ASSASSIN’
Allen booked a room at the Washington Hilton hotel, where the dinner took place, on April 6 and traveled from California to Washington by train last week, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent in court.
According to the affidavit, Allen on Saturday sent an email to family members referring to himself as the “Friendly Federal Assassin” and discussing plans to target senior Trump administration officials.
“On to why I did any of this: I am a citizen of the United States of America. What my representatives do reflects on me,” Allen wrote in the email, according to the affidavit.
The shooting on Saturday rattled the press dinner, a prominent event on Washington’s social calendar, sending attendees diving under tables and prompting law enforcement to whisk senior officials out of the room. Trump, who was set to deliver remarks later in the evening, was rushed off the stage by security personnel.
U.S. officials have described Allen’s takedown as a law enforcement success. But the incident has revived concerns about the safety of Trump and other U.S. officials.
Allen ran through a magnetometer at a security checkpoint at the hotel while holding a long gun, according to the affidavit. A Secret Service officer fired at Allen, who fell to the ground but was not shot, the affidavit read.
The affidavit said the Secret Service officer was shot in the chest while wearing a ballistic vest, but did not specify by whom.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward and Blake Brittain in Washington; Additional reporting and writing by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Andy Sullivan, Alexia Garamfalvi, Ethan Smith, Deepa Babington and Daniel Wallis)
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