Grand jury adds new charge in White House dinner shooting case

The new indictment turns the White House dinner shooting case into a sharper test of how a heavily armed suspect got close enough to trigger gunfire inside one of Washington’s most closely watched security zones. Federal prosecutors say Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, ran through a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 25, where President Donald J. Trump, members of his Cabinet and thousands of journalists were gathered.

A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., returned a four-count indictment on May 5, adding a charge of assaulting an officer or employee of the United States with a deadly weapon to the three counts already filed by criminal complaint: attempting to assassinate the president, transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. Prosecutors said the new count reflects their belief that Allen fired the shot that struck a U.S. Secret Service officer, who was hit once in a bullet-resistant vest.

The charging document, along with FBI materials, sketches a security breach that reached well beyond the ballroom. Officials said Allen entered the venue heavily armed, carrying guns and knives, and that he traveled to Washington with ammunition. The dinner was disrupted and ended early after the shooting, a reminder of how quickly a failure at the perimeter can ripple through a protected event and force a rapid response from federal agents and local police.

Investigators said the case is being handled by the FBI Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department. The FBI said video released April 30 showed Allen engaging with security at the dinner and casing the Hilton Hotel the day before the attack. Prosecutors also said Allen took a selfie in his hotel room at about 8:03 p.m. on April 25 that appeared to show an ammunition-filled bag, a shoulder holster, a sheathed knife, pliers and wire cutters.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said she had “no doubt” Allen fired at the Secret Service agent, and said the grand jury found probable cause that Allen’s weapon hit the officer. Allen’s lawyers have challenged the strength of the government’s evidence and the ballistics theory, arguing the case rests on inferences about his intent.

The indictment now places the federal case on a wider foundation, tying the alleged attack not just to a presidential-assassination allegation but to the more immediate question of how a suspect carrying weapons and tools was able to move so close to a major protected event before security stopped him.