White House Correspondents' Dinner gunman due in federal court Monday

Cole Allen, a 31-year-old from Torrance, California, was scheduled to make his first federal court appearance Monday after authorities said he forced his way toward the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton, wounded a Secret Service agent and set off a sweeping review of how an armed suspect got so close to one of Washington’s most watched political events.

Authorities said Allen rushed a Secret Service checkpoint near the hotel’s main magnetometer screening area on Saturday night while the ballroom was packed with thousands of journalists, President Donald Trump, Melania Trump and senior officials, including members of the Cabinet. Officials said Allen was carrying a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives when he confronted law enforcement and exchanged gunfire before being subdued. A Secret Service agent wearing an armored vest was struck in the chest but suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening. No one else was reported hurt.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Allen faces at least charges including using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, with additional counts still possible. Allen was taken to a hospital for evaluation after the incident, and investigators have continued to examine his background, the weapons he carried and the writings they believe he left behind. Authorities have not publicly announced a definitive motive.

Those writings have become central to the case. Law enforcement sources said Allen sent a note to family members about 10 minutes before the attack apologizing and indicating that administration officials were targets. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said authorities believe Allen traveled from Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington, D.C., where he checked into the hotel shortly before the attack. Trump said after the shooting that the Secret Service got him, the first lady, the vice president and Cabinet members to safety, and later said he had read a manifesto and believed he may have been the target.

The episode has sharpened scrutiny on security at marquee Washington gatherings that draw top officials, journalists and invited guests into the same enclosed space. With the FBI, Secret Service and Metropolitan Police Department all continuing to assess Allen’s movements and writings, the attack has already exposed how quickly a major public event can turn into a federal security breach.