Cole Allen Charged With Attempting to Assassinate Trump
Key takeaways
- Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh ordered Allen held pending a detention hearing Thursday.
- The Metropolitan Police Department claims that the suspect approached a Secret Service checkpoint at the Hilton on Saturday night armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives.
- Witnesses reported hearing several shots outside the room, and agents quickly moved Trump and Vice President JD Vance off the stage.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Photograph: Nathan Howard/Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, appeared Monday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to face federal charges stemming from Saturday night’s armed assault on a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh ordered Allen held pending a detention hearing Thursday. The suspect, who appeared on a criminal complaint rather than an indictment, was not asked to enter a plea. He faces three federal counts: attempting to assassinate the president, transportation of a firearm in interstate commerce, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Allen, 31, is a Caltech-trained mechanical engineer with a recent master’s in computer science from CSU Dominguez Hills who tutored part-time at a Torrance test-prep company and built indie video games on the side, according to a WIRED review of public databases, which revealed a minimal online presence.