Video shows suspected gunman storming White House dinner security checkpoint

New video shows Cole Tomas Allen moving toward a White House dinner security checkpoint after allegedly casing the Washington Hilton the day before, a sequence that has put the Secret Service response under scrutiny after gunfire broke out outside the ballroom.

Federal prosecutors say Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was arraigned on April 27 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and charged with attempting to assassinate the president, interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit a felony, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. The FBI says the April 30 footage shows Allen confronting security at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on April 25 and also surveilling the Hilton the previous day.

The dinner, one of Washington’s highest-profile political gatherings, had just begun and guests were seated when gunfire erupted at the Washington Hilton. More than 2,000 journalists, officials and newsmakers were inside the ballroom, with WTOP reporting about 2,600 attendees. Authorities said President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other officials were evacuated as the scene turned into a fast-moving security emergency. A Secret Service officer was struck, but the bulletproof vest stopped the round from penetrating.

Investigators say Allen had reserved a room at the Washington Hilton on April 6 for April 24 through April 26, then traveled by train from near Los Angeles to Chicago and on to Washington. He arrived in the District at about 1 p.m. on April 24 and checked into the hotel later that day. Prosecutors say he later used his cellphone to take a mirror selfie around 8:03 p.m. on April 25, wearing formal clothes and apparently carrying items consistent with an ammunition-filled bag, a shoulder holster, a knife, pliers and wire cutters that were later recovered from him.

The federal response has focused not only on the suspect’s movements but on how close he came to a crowded event with the president and other senior officials in attendance. Todd Blanche, Kash Patel and Jeanine Pirro have all described the episode as a brazen act of political violence that was stopped by law enforcement. The FBI is still asking the public for tips as agents continue to reconstruct Allen’s path and the security layers that failed, and the ones that held, during one of the most sensitive public gatherings in Washington.