{"id":293289,"date":"2026-04-30T15:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T15:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/293289\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T15:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T15:28:10","slug":"man-accused-of-trying-to-kill-trump-at-gala-is-set-to-return-to-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/293289\/","title":{"rendered":"Man accused of trying to kill Trump at gala is set to return to court"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The man who authorities say tried to storm the White House Correspondents\u2019 Association dinner<\/a> with guns and knives and tried to kill President Donald Trump<\/a> will appear Thursday in court as a judge decides whether Cole Tomas Allen<\/a> will remain behind bars while awaiting trial.<\/p>\n

In pressing for Allen\u2019s continued detention<\/a>, prosecutors have alleged that he planned his attack for weeks<\/a> and tracked Trump\u2019s movements online before he ran through a magnetometer at the Washington Hilton<\/a> while holding a long gun and disrupted one of the highest-profile annual events in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

Allen was injured during the attack but was not shot. A Secret Service officer was shot but was wearing a bullet-resistant vest and survived, officials say. Prosecutors have said they believe Allen fired his shotgun at least once and that a Secret Service agent fired five shots. They have not publicly confirmed that it was Allen\u2019s bullet that struck the agent\u2019s vest.<\/p>\n

\"Cole<\/p>\n

This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice, April 29, 2026, shows Cole Tomas Allen, left, inside his hotel room, on Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Washington, using his cellphone to take a photograph of himself in the mirror. An enhanced version of the image is right. (Department of Justice via AP)\n<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/p>\n

U.S. Secret Service agents surround President Donald Trump before he was taken from the stage after a shooting incident outside the ballroom during the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)\n<\/p>\n

\"Some<\/p>\n

This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice, April 29, 2026, shows some of the weapons and shotgun ammunition that Cole Tomas Allen possessed, Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Washington. (Department of Justice via AP)\n<\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House after an unspecified threat at the annual White House Correspondents\u2019 Association Dinner in Washington, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jose Luis Magana)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 4<\/p>\n

This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice, April 29, 2026, shows Cole Tomas Allen, left, inside his hotel room, on Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Washington, using his cellphone to take a photograph of himself in the mirror. An enhanced version of the image is right. (Department of Justice via AP)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

In a letter to prosecutors on Wednesday, Allen\u2019s lawyers alleged that some of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche\u2019s statements \u201cindicate that the recovered ballistics evidence is inconsistent with aspects of the government\u2019s theory, evidence collected by the government and\/or statements made by witnesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Justice Department, in response, said the evidence shows Allen fired his shotgun at least once in the Secret Service agent\u2019s direction. Investigators recovered at least one fragment at the crime scene that is consistent with a buckshot pellet, prosecutors wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government is aware of no physical evidence, digital video evidence, or witness statements that are inconsistent with the theory that your client fired his shotgun in the direction\u201d of the officer or that the officer \u201cwas indeed shot once in the chest while wearing a ballistic vest,\u201d prosecutors wrote.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said in court papers that Allen took a picture of himself in his hotel room<\/a> just minutes before the incident, and that he was outfitted with an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife. In a message<\/a> that authorities say sheds light on his motive, Allen referred to himself as a \u201cFriendly Federal Assassin\u201d and alluded obliquely to grievances over a range of Trump administration actions, according to writings sent to family members shortly before shots were fired Saturday night. The Associated Press reviewed the writings.<\/p>\n

Allen\u2019s lawyers are pressing for his release, arguing in court papers that the government\u2019s case is \u201cbased upon inferences drawn about Mr. Allen\u2019s intent that raise more questions than answers.\u201d They defense noted that Allen\u2019s writings never mentioned Trump by name.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government\u2019s evidence of the charged offense \u2013- the attempted assassination of the president \u2013- is thus built entirely upon speculation, even under the most generous reading of its theory,\u201d defense lawyers wrote.<\/p>\n

Allen was charged on Monday with that crime, as well as two additional firearms counts, including discharging a weapon during a crime of violence. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the assassination count alone.<\/p>\n

Allen, 31, is from Torrance, California. He is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The man who authorities say tried to storm…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[122736,124893,536,74,76,75,124894,124895],"class_list":["post-293289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-cole-tomas-allen","tag-cole-tomas-allen-hearing","tag-donald-trump","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-trump-assassination-suspect-hearing","tag-white-house-correspondents-dinner-shootin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}