Suspect Cole Allen thought he was “Rambo” and came “armed to the teeth” in an alleged plot to assassinate President Donald Trump during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, a top federal prosecutor has claimed. Authorities said the 31-year-old Caltech engineering graduate stormed the Washington Hilton with multiple weapons and shot a Secret Service agent...
Suspect Cole Allen thought he was “Rambo” and came “armed to the teeth” in an alleged plot to assassinate President Donald Trump during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, a top federal prosecutor has claimed.
Authorities said the 31-year-old Caltech engineering graduate stormed the Washington Hilton with multiple weapons and shot a Secret Service agent amid the chaos before he was taken down and arrested.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro didn’t hold back when describing Allen’s alleged mindset, telling CNN, “Clearly, the president is a target. And make no mistake, it is not just the manifesto [Allen allegedly wrote]. It is his actions.”
Referring to Allen’s weapons preparation, she added, “I mean, this guy thought he was Rambo. I mean, he was armed to the teeth.
“And he takes a picture of himself. He is smug, he is proud and he is focused on what he’s doing.”
‘Manifesto’ reveals chilling target list
Authorities pointed to Allen’s alleged manifesto — which was sent to family members minutes before the attack — as key evidence. They say he wrote that his targets were “administration officials (not including [FBI chief] Mr. [Kash] Patel): They are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.”
In another passage, the document did not name Trump directly but included a line that read, “And I am no longer willing to permit a ped******, rap*** and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
Asked whether that line referred to the president, Pirro said, “You’re going to have to ask him that. I don’t really care. I think if you read the manifesto… it is very clear who the intended target is.”
‘We will prove that beyond a reasonable doubt’
Pirro said investigators tied Allen’s planning directly to Trump’s appearance at the April 25 event, explaining, “It is very clear, based upon the fact that as soon as this president said that he was going to be at the Hilton for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on March 2, [Allen] then made the decision to hatch the plan.”
She insisted the case is strong, adding, “I can tell you, we will be able to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Addressing speculation about Allen’s mental state, Pirro added, “The one issue that people might think about is, is he insane? He is far from insane. He is brilliant. He has a master’s degree. He work[ed] at a NASA jet propulsion laboratory.”
‘It is definitively his bullet’
After questions were raised about whether a Secret Service agent who was shot had been hit by friendly fire or by a weapon fired by Allen, Pirro said authorities had made a determination.
“There’s video of the defendant shooting at the Secret Service agent. We now can establish that a pellet that came from the buckshot from the defendant’s Mossberg pump-action shotgun was intertwined with the vest of the Secret Service officer. It is definitively his bullet,” she said.
Allen, who allegedly brought a shotgun, a handgun and knives to the hotel, now faces multiple federal charges, including attempted assassination of the president. He did not enter a plea when he was arraigned.
