Federal prosecutors have charged the suspect in the Saturday shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with three federal offenses, including the attempted assassination of a U.S. president and two federal gun crimes.
In a federal affidavit filed alongside a criminal complaint Monday, investigators allege that Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, booked a room at the Washington Hilton weeks in advance and later traveled from California to Washington with firearms.
Allen, 31, is accused of opening fire outside the Washington Hilton ballroom, where President Donald Trump and members of his administration were in attendance for the journalist-hosted dinner. According to law enforcement officers, the suspect ran through a Secret Service checkpoint in the hotel lobby, where he was intercepted by Secret Service agents.
Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the gunman appeared to be targeting members of the Trump administration, “likely including the president.”
The affidavit filed Monday claims Allen prescheduled an email, sending out a manifesto to family members and a former employer that detail his plans for the attack.
The criminal complaint charges Allen with the attempted assassination of the President of the United States, transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with the intent to commit a felony and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Allen appeared at a federal courthouse in Washington for his initial court appearance on Monday, less than 48 hours after the alleged shooting.
Read the full arrest warrant, criminal complaint and affidavit below.
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