The suspected gunman who tried to storm the White House correspondents’ dinner appeared in federal court on Monday and was charged with three federal crimes, including attempting to assassinate the president.
The alleged shooter, identified by law enforcement agencies as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old man from Torrance in southern California, was charged with attempting to assassinate the US president, transportation of firearms to commit a felony, and unlawful discharge of a firearm during violence.
The first charge carries a potential sentence of up to life in prison.
Allen was being represented by lawyers with the federal defender’s office and sat beside them in court in a blue jail jumpsuit. Three US marshals sat directly behind him during his appearance.
Allen has no record of criminal charges or a civil court history in Los Angeles county, according to a records search.
The weapons he had on him Saturday night included a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a pistol and three knives, according to Jocelyn Ballantine, a federal prosecutor.
Judge Matthew Sharbaugh asked Allen if he had taken any drugs in the last day or so, to which Allen responded no.
In an unusual appearance, Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, was also present in the courtroom, seated in the front row. After the initial appearance at court, Pirro joined acting attorney general Todd Blanche and FBI director Kash Patel at the Department of Justice for a press conference to discuss the charges.
Pirro said that while there were only three charges on the file now, “there will be additional charges” as the case unfolds.
“Let this be a message to anyone who thinks that Washington DC is the place to act out political violence,” Pirro said. “And if you are willing to do so with a firearm and cross state lines, we will find you, we will track your steps from the inception of your plans and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
To establish the charge of attempted assassination, the affidavit quotes from a part of a manifesto Allen allegedly sent to family members shortly before he was tackled and subdued on Saturday night outside the Hilton hotel ballroom, where the president and senior officials were attending the White House correspondents’ dinner.
“I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” the manifesto attributed to Allen reads. “Administration officials (not including Mr Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” it adds.
The grounds for the second charge include details of two guns allegedly purchased by Allen in California that match those that authorities took from him after he was subdued on Saturday, and his travel across state lines by train.
Blanche said Allen arrived at the Washington Hilton on Friday, 24 April, and the following evening,