White House Dinner Gunman Charged with Assault

The gunman who attempted to breach the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington D.C. on Saturday night could be charged with trying to assassinate President Donald Trump, according to acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche. The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from Torrance, California, traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington before the event.

The suspect rushed toward the ballroom where the dinner was held but was stopped. Officials believe he was targeting top officials of the Trump administration who were at the dinner. Blanche stated in an interview with CNN that the suspect could be charged with attempting to assassinate the U.S. president, saying “absolutely” when asked about potential charges.

President Donald Trump, Melania Trump, and JD Vance were on the high table at the head of the ballroom at the Washington Hilton hotel during the event. As shots rang out, journalists and guests ducked under tables while law enforcement officers with rifles blocked lines of sight to the president as he was rushed from the room. A federal agent was shot but survived due to wearing a bulletproof vest.

The suspect is not actively cooperating with authorities and will face multiple charges in federal court on Monday, including assault of a federal officer, discharging a firearm, and attempting to kill a federal officer. Investigators have examined the gunman’s electronic devices and writings, preliminarily believing he intended to target administration members at the dinner.

“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The suspect fired a shotgun at a Secret Service agent at a security checkpoint before being tackled and arrested. Trump and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the dinner. The suspect will be charged in federal court on Monday with assault of a federal officer, discharging a firearm, and attempting to kill a federal officer.

Trump told reporters at a late-night White House briefing that he believed he was the target of the attack. He said the Secret Service officer was saved by his bulletproof vest and was in “good shape”. Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi confirmed the officer had been released from a hospital.

The suspect described himself as a mechanical engineer, game developer, and teacher on LinkedIn. He graduated with a master's in computer science in 2025 from California State University, according to his profile. He has been a part-time teacher since. Allen sent a manifesto to family members shortly before the attack, calling himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin” and expressing views against oppression.

Washington interim police chief Jeffery Carroll said the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives. He was taken to a local hospital for evaluation. Investigators executed multiple search warrants overnight in Los Angeles and Washington, including at a hotel room where the suspect was staying. Bloomberg reported that Allen purchased a shotgun eight months ago and a semi-automatic pistol two years earlier, citing a law enforcement intelligence profile.

Trump used the incident to push his plans to construct a large ballroom next to the White House, a plan that has faced legal challenges and that polls indicate most Americans oppose. “What happened last night is exactly the reason that our great Military, Secret Service, Law Enforcement and, for different reasons, every President for the last 150 years, have been DEMANDING that a large, safe, and secure Ballroom be built ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.

The chaotic events raised fresh questions about the security of top U.S. officials. A focus of the investigation is how the gunman was able to smuggle weapons into the hotel hosting one of Washington’s biggest black-tie events.