US President Trump posted to social media a photo of law enforcement detaining a suspect following a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., United States, on the night of April 25, 2026. The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen, was taken into custody immediately following the disturbance at the high-profile event.
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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 through security undetected.”
Allen, who had stayed at the hotel ahead of the dinner, reportedly sent an email letter to relatives shortly before the shooting in which he wrote that Trump administration officials “are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.”
In a “P.S.” in the note, which was first reported by The New York Post, Allen went on what he called a “rant” about the apparent lack of security measures at the Hilton.
“I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat,” Allen wrote, according to The Post. The security at the event is all outside, focused on protestors and current arrivals, because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before.”
“Like, this level of incompetence is insane, and I very sincerely hope it’s corrected by the time this country gets actually competent leadership again,” he wrote.
The letter was signed “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen,” The Post reported.
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