Suspect in Attempted Trump Assassination Pleads Not Guilty

Cole Allen, the suspected shooter at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, pleaded “not guilty” in federal court on May 11.

Allen is charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the event on April 25. He also faces one count of transporting a firearm across state lines with intent to commit a felony and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

If convicted, he faces life in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

Allen, 31, is from Torrance, California, near Los Angeles. A LinkedIn profile under his name describes him as a “mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, and teacher by birth.”

Officials allege that at the beginning of April, he booked a room at the Washington Hilton where the dinner was scheduled to take place. According to a filing by the Justice Department, he took a train across the country to the nation’s capital and checked in to the hotel on April 24.

Authorities have released surveillance video footage from the attack showing a man charging past a hotel security checkpoint at about 8:40 p.m. The assailant fired a shot before being tackled and subdued by Secret Service agents. An agent was hit during the attack, but not seriously injured.

In a manifesto penned ahead of the alleged attack, Allen allegedly said he was motivated by disapproval of the Trump administration. He also said FBI Director Kash Patel, who was present at the dinner, was not an intended target.

On May 8, Allen’s attorneys asked the court to disqualify U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, and the Department of Justice from his case.

Since Blanche and Pirro were present during the attack, the attorneys argued, they may be called as witnesses in his case. Their close working relationship with Trump also represents a conflict of interest, Allen’s attorneys claimed.

Allen’s detention has also been a subject of controversy, after Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui called his imprisonment “legally deficient.” Allen was placed on suicide watch; his lawyers said in court filings that he has been separated from other inmates, denied a Bible, and placed in a padded room for 23 hours per day.

This is a breaking story. Updates will follow.

Reuters contributed to this report.