Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, was charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump in his first court appearance on Monday in Washington, D.C., a charge that carried a potential life sentence.
The 31-year-old was also charged with illegally transporting a firearm across state lines and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
“He attempted to assassinate the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Ballantine told the court. “We are asking the court to preventively detain Mr. Allen.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh granted the prosecutors’ request to keep Allen in custody pending further hearings, as one of Allen’s lawyers, Tezira Abe, noted Allen has no criminal record.
Allen did not enter a plea in Monday’s brief presentation before the judge.
Video posted by Trump on Truth Social late Saturday night showed blurry security footage of a man running through a hallway in the hotel before security drew their firearms. Trump also posted photographs of the suspect, believed to be Allen, shirtless and handcuffed, face down on the floor with officers surrounding him.
The Washington Metropolitan Police Department said Allen was armed with a shotgun, a handgun—both California—and a knife when he rushed the checkpoint just after 8:30 p.m. He injured one law enforcement officer, who was then taken to the hospital.
After shots were heard at the black-tie event Saturday night, journalists and other attendees ducked under tables and scrambled to the floor while Secret Service and security whisked high-ranking U.S. officials out of the room.
FBI Director Kash Patel said on Fox News Monday morning that investigators worked with “a pretty quick turnaround” to learn more about Allen in time for Monday’s arraignment.
“We’re going to be able to present to the world in less than 36 hours almost, exactly what happened,” Patel said. “This individual’s entire background, entire background, who he knew, where he lived, who he was talking to, everything about the firearms, everything about the ballistics.”
Allen, a teacher living in Torrance, California, describes himself on his LinkedIn page as a “mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth. The profile shows he was a part-time teacher at C2 Education, which specializes in college test preparation and college counseling, for over six years, and also a self-employed indie game developer. It also shows that Allen earned a degree in mechanical engineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 2017, and a master’s degree in computer science at California State University, Dominguez Hills, in 2025.
On “Fox and Friends” Monday, Patel said that the FBI’s Behavior Analysis Unit is investigating Allen’s writing, emails, and social media, and is conducting interviews to gain more insight into his motivations.
Allen was a “no party preference” voter in California, but in a manifesto reportedly sent to his family mere minutes before the attack, Allen called himself a “Friendly Federal Assassin,” and believed it was his duty to target Trump Administration officials.
The manifesto, first reported on by the New York Post, which received a copy, said “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” without naming Trump.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on “Meet the Press” on Sunday that Allen was targeting Trump Administration officials, “likely including the President.”
Blanche added that authorities believe he took a train from California to Chicago to Washington, where he stayed as a guest at the Washington Hilton Hotel for a few nights before the annual WHCD.
Allen also looked to provide explanations for his absence to his friends and students before leaving California on his journey, describing it as a personal emergency, officials told the New York Times.