Cole Allen tried to assassinate Trump at WHCD event, prosecutors charge

Cole Tomas Allen, the man arrested after allegedly charging a security checkpoint for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, was criminally charged Monday with trying to assassinate President Donald Trump, who was in attendance at that event Saturday.

Allen, 31, is also charged with transportation of a firearm or ammunition in interstate commerce, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, a prosecutor said at his arraignment in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

“He attempted to assassinate the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump … an enumerated crime of terrorism,” the prosecutor said as she asked Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh to order Allen detained without bond.

The prosecutor said Allen had a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun, a .38 caliber semi-automatic pistol, and was also carrying with him three knives and other dangerous paraphernalia when he was arrested.

Sharbaugh scheduled a detention hearing for Thursday morning after Allen’s attorney, Tezira Abe, said he agreed with prosecutors to hold the proceeding that day. The judge also scheduled a preliminary hearing in the case for Monday.

Allen was allegedly armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and a knife when he ran through the checkpoint in the direction of the ballroom.

One Secret Service office was shot, but not seriously injured, according to Trump, who credited the agent’s protective gear.

The court hearing comes as concerns have been raised over the Secret Service’s handling of Saturday’s event, where Trump and Vice President JD Vance were evacuated after gunshots rang out within hearing of the ballroom at the Washington Hilton Hotel.

“We got to do a couple of things differently, and we’re already talking about it, and that’s the good thing, and we’re going to be better postured for the next event,” FBI Director Kash Patel told “Fox and Friends” in an interview on Monday morning.

“Just to remind everyone. This was almost the entirety of the president’s cabinet, the president and vice president himself, and 2,000 members of the media,” Patel said. “This is something the movies don’t even write about, this kind of tragedy.”

Patel said the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit is involved in the investigation and that it has collected emails, social media postings, and conducted interviews to get insight into Allen’s motivation.

He said the criminal complaint against Allen will “show you what he did, how he got there, when he got there, when he arrived, how he got down to the arena, to the area in question, how he was able to get…