Press gala shooting suspect moved off suicide watch, records show

Cole Tomas Allen’s move off suicide watch does not change the fact that he remains jailed on accusations that he tried to assassinate President Donald Trump outside the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. His lawyers said he is still being held in a safe cell under 24-hour lockdown, but a hearing set for Monday to consider lifting suicide precautions was canceled, leaving the court record as the main public account of how the jail is handling a politically explosive defendant.

Federal rules describe suicide watch as a clinical safeguard, not a punishment. Bureau of Prisons regulations say medical staff screen new arrivals for suicide risk, a psychologist clinically assesses anyone placed on watch, and the institution’s suicide-prevention coordinator or designee decides what intervention is appropriate after that assessment. The rules also say staff should end the watch only when clinical findings show the inmate is no longer at imminent risk.

Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was arraigned in U.S. District Court on April 27 on charges of attempting to assassinate the president, transporting a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. Prosecutors say he reserved a Washington Hilton room on April 6 for April 24 through April 26, then traveled by train from near Los Angeles to Chicago and on to Washington, arriving around 1 p.m. on April 24 before checking into the hotel later that day. Trump had posted on March 2 that he accepted an invitation to attend the dinner, a detail prosecutors say made the target clear.

The FBI affidavit says Allen rushed through a security checkpoint around 8:40 p.m. holding a long gun. A Secret Service officer identified as V.G. was shot once in the chest while wearing a ballistic vest, law enforcement fired five shots, and Allen fell with a minor knee injury; investigators said he was not shot. Prosecutors also released images they say show Allen taking selfies shortly before the attack in black clothing, a red tie, a sheathed knife, a shoulder holster and what appeared to be an ammunition-filled bag. A preliminary hearing is set for May 11. In a case rooted in a dinner that dates to 1924 and draws more than 2,500 people from Washington’s political and journalistic world, the remaining question is not just what happened at the hotel, but whether jail officials followed the clinical steps required before loosening the most restrictive suicide precautions.