President Donald Trump and officials in his administration were the likely targets of a suspect who fired on a security agent guarding the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, US acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Sunday.
The man fired a shotgun at a Secret Service agent at a security checkpoint in the Washington Hilton hotel before being tackled and arrested. Trump and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the dinner.
Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old suspected shooter from California railed against Trump administration policies and referred to himself as a “friendly federal assassin” in writings sent to family members minutes before the shooting that authorities increasingly believe was politically motivated, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation.
What shooter’s manifesto said
The manifesto included the statement: “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
It also said, “all (Trump) administration officials, not including Mr Patel…are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.” On security forces, it noted that “Secret Service would be targets only if necessary” and would be “incapacitated on-lethally if possible,” while stating that hotel staff and others were “not targets at all.”
The suspect also wrote about ammunition choice, saying he would use “buckshot rather than slugs to minimise casualties.” Describing his perception of security, he said, “I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat,” and added that the security level was “insane” and incompetent.
The writings, sent shortly before shots were fired at the Washington Hilton, made repeated references to President Donald Trump without naming him directly and alluded to grievances over a range of administration actions and recent events, including US strikes on drug smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific, the official said.
What Trump said
Trump said Allen had an anti-Christian manifesto and “a lot of hatred in his heart” as he called him a “sick man”. “When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians,” Trump said on Fox News’.
The manifesto mocked the “insane” lack of security at the Washington Hilton, where the dinner was held, an official added.
“It does appear that he, he did, in fact, have set out to target folks that work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” adding that the suspect likely travelled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington.
The suspect will be charged in federal court on Monday with assault of a federal officer, discharging a firearm and attempting to kill a federal officer, Blanche said, adding he did not know if there was an Iran connection to the attack.
Suspect likely a ‘lone wolf’, says Trump
Little was immediately known about Allen’s background, but social media postings suggested he was a teacher in Torrance, near Los Angeles.
Washington Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives. He was taken to a local hospital to be evaluated but it was too soon to say what his motivation was, Carroll said. Bloomberg reported that Allen purchased a shotgun 8 months ago and a semi-automatic pistol 2 years earlier, citing a law enforcement intelligence profile.
Blanche said the suspect appeared to have checked into the Washington Hilton on Friday. Without naming the person, he said the suspect was not cooperating with investigators.
“There is something unique about the threats against President Trump and his cabinet that is disgusting and it shouldn’t be happening,” Blanche said on “ABC This Week.”
The chaotic events raised fresh questions about the security of top U.S. officials, many of whom were gathered in the hotel’s expansive ballroom. A focus of the investigation is likely to be how the gunman was able to smuggle the weapons into a hotel hosting one of Washington’s biggest black-tie events. Guests entering the lower ballroom area are screened by security, but the lobby and room levels are not secured.
The dinner was attended by many members of Trump’s cabinet and other senior administration officials amid heavy security. It was the first time Trump attended the event as president, having boycotted it in previous years.
The site of the dinner was the scene of an attempt on the life of President Ronald Reagan, who was shot and wounded by a would-be assassin outside the hotel in 1981.
Closed-circuit TV footage released by Trump on Truth Social showed the suspect running rapidly through a security checkpoint, momentarily catching security personnel off-guard before they drew their weapons.
No shots were fired at the gunman who got through two checkpoints before being brought down.
“You know, he charged from 50 yards away, so he was very far away from the room. He was moving. He was really moving,” Trump said after the gala dinner was cancelled. Officials believe he is a “lone wolf,” Trump said.
How it unfolded
Video footage shows Trump and his wife sitting at a banquet table on stage in conversation with someone when a commotion at the rear of the ballroom – caused by the noise of gunshots – triggers a ripple of gasps through the room. People started screaming “Get down, get down!” Many of the 2,600 attendees dressed in tuxedos and ball gowns took cover under tables as security personnel drew their weapons, with some pushing cabinet secretaries to the floor and covering them with their bodies while others formed a protective cordon.
Security personnel in combat fatigues stormed the stage pointing rifles into the ballroom as Trump, his wife Melania and Vice President JD Vance were evacuated. Cabinet members who had been sitting at tables dotted around the vast room were escorted out by their security details one by one.
Trump stayed backstage for about an hour after being hustled from the stage, a source told Reuters. He later said he had not wanted to leave the event, a remark that echoed images of him defiantly pumping his fist after narrowly escaping an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024.
In that attempt, Trump was wounded in his upper ear by a 20-year-old gunman, who was shot dead by security personnel.