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The suspect in the alleged assassination attempt against President Donald Trump, and potentially other members of his senior cabinet, was charged on Monday with three federal counts.
According to The New York Times, Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old teacher from California, has been formally charged with two federal gun crimes and one count of attempting to assassinate the President of the United States during Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“The facts make it very clear what this intent was,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro during a briefing with the press. “You may recall that it was on March 2nd that the president indicated that he would be attending this public event at the Hilton, and on April 6th, that’s when Cole Allen first made a hotel reservation at the Washington Hilton for three nights…it was on April 21st that he traveled all the way from the West Coast, from his home near LA., he gets to the Chicago on April 23, and has been indicated that he arrives in Washington on the 24th and checks into the hotel at about 3:00 pm.”
Pirro alleged that Allen rushed the ballroom at 8:40 pm Saturday evening, “and thank goodness law enforcement, the Secret Service was able to prevent him from getting into that ballroom – he was not injured other than some kind of scrape on his knee.”
Allen allegedly brought several weapons with him to D.C., as indicated by the briefing on Monday. Pirro said the firearms were purchased in California.
“The manifesto also makes clear about his expected rules of engagement,” Pirro noted. “…At the end, make no mistake, he says, ‘I am targeting the administration officials, they are my targets and I’m prioritizing from the top down, the highest ranking from the lowest, and I will not hesitate to get involved in any kind of encounter with anyone who blocks me from the president.’”
A federal affidavit revealed that the defendant allegedly sent an email to his family members and former employer about what he was about to do just before he attempted to rush through the Washington Hilton on Saturday night with a gun, per the NYT. This email allegedly indicated that he was targeting high-level administration officials, as Pirro noted.
