WH Correspondents’ Dinner Shooting Suspect Cole Allen: 5 Things We Know

by Jack Phillips, The Epoch Times.com, April 27, 2026

The suspect who was arrested following a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that President Donald Trump and other administration officials were attending was identified by a senior administration official as a California man who allegedly wrote an manifesto.

A White House official confirmed to the The Epoch Times Sunday that the suspect had been identified as Cole Allen, of Torrance, California. The official also said Allen had allegedly written a manifesto that indicated he was targeting Trump administration officials.

Allen was taken into custody on Saturday evening after the shooting at the dinner, which prompted an evacuation of the event. A Secret Service agent was shot in the chest but was wearing a bulletproof vest, Trump said at a quickly organized press conference on Saturday night following the incident.

Neither Trump nor any administration officials were harmed during the incident.

Suspect Wrote Manifesto: WH

The White House official and Trump said Sunday that Allen allegedly wrote a manifesto, which contained his political views. A family member told law enforcement officials that Allen sent the manifesto to them minutes before the incident, the official added.

Trump commented on the alleged manifesto in an interview with Fox News on Sunday morning, saying that it had “anti-Christian” viewpoints.

“When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians, that’s one thing for sure,“ Trump said. ”He hates Christians, a hatred, and I think his sister, or his brother, actually was complaining about it. You know, they were even complaining to law enforcement. So he was, he was a very troubled guy.”

The president added that Allen “had a lot of hatred in his heart for quite a while” and that “his family knew that he had difficulty.”

The official said that Maryland’s Montgomery County Police interviewed Allen’s sister, who said her brother often made radical statements and he said he wanted to do “something” to fix problems with the world.

Allen also had displayed “anti-Christian” and “anti-Trump” viewpoints on social media, the White House official said.

Allen’s brother had notified law enforcement in New London, Connecticut, about the alleged manifesto.

Here’s a copy (via NY Post):

Hello everybody!

So I may have given a lot of people a surprise today. Let me start off by apologizing to everyone whose trust I abused.

I apologize to my parents for saying I had an interview without specifying it was for “Most Wanted.”

I apologize to my colleagues and students for saying I had a personal emergency (by the time anyone reads this, I probably most certainly DO need to go to the ER, but can hardly call that not a self-inflicted status.)

I apologize to all of the people I traveled next to, all the workers who handled my luggage, and all the other non-targeted people at the hotel who I put in danger simply by being near.

I apologize to everyone who was abused and/or murdered before this, to all those who suffered before I was able to attempt this, to all who may still suffer after, regardless of my success or failure.

I don’t expect forgiveness, but if I could have seen any other way to get this close, I would have taken it. Again, my sincere apologies.

On to why I did any of this:

I am a citizen of the United States of America.

What my representatives do reflects on me.

And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.

(Well, to be completely honest, I was no longer willing a long time ago, but this is the first real opportunity I’ve had to do something about it.)

While I’m discussing this, I’ll also go over my expected rules of engagement (probably in a terrible format, but I’m not military so too bad.)

Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest

Secret Service: they are targets only if necessary, and to be incapacitated non-lethally if possible (aka, I hope they’re wearing body armor because center mass with shotguns messes up people who *aren’t*

Hotel Security: not targets if at all possible (aka unless they shoot at me)

Capitol Police: same as Hotel Security

National Guard: same as Hotel Security

Hotel Employees: not targets at all

Guests: not targets at all

In order to minimize casualties I will also be using buckshot rather than slugs (less penetration through walls)

I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people *chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn’t come to that.

Rebuttals to objections:

Objection 1: As a Christian, you should turn the other cheek.

Rebuttal: Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. I’m not the person raped in a detention camp. I’m not the fisherman executed without trial. I’m not a schoolkid blown up or a child starved or a teenage girl abused by the many criminals in this administration.

Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes.

Objection 2: This is not a convenient time for you to do this.

Rebuttal: I need whoever thinks this way to take a couple minutes and realize that the world isn’t about them. Do you think that when I see someone raped or murdered or abused, I should walk on by because it would be “inconvenient” for people who aren’t the victim?

This was the best timing and chance of success I could come up with.

Objection 3: You didn’t get them all.

Rebuttal: Gotta start somewhere.

Objection 4: As a half-black, half-white person, you shouldn’t be the one doing this.

Rebuttal: I don’t see anyone else picking up the slack

Objection 5: Yield unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.

Rebuttal: The United States of America are ruled by the law, not by any one or several people. In so far as representatives and judges do not follow the law, no one is required to yield them anything so unlawfully ordered.

I would also like to extend my appreciation to a great many people since I will not be likely to be able to talk with them again (unless the Secret Service is *astoundingly* incompetent.)

Thank you to my family, both personal and church, for your love over these 31 years.

Thank you to my friends, for your companionship over many years.

Thank you to my colleagues over many jobs, for your positivity and professionalism.

Thank you to my students for your enthusiasm and love of learning.

Thank you to the many acquaintances I’ve met, in person and online, for short interactions and long-term relationships, for your perspectives and inspiration.

Thank you all for everything.

Sincerely,

Cole “coldForce” “Friendly Federal Assassin” Allen

PS: Ok now that all the sappy stuff is done, what the hell is the Secret Service doing? Sorry, gonna rant a bit here and drop the formal tone.

Like, I expected security cameras at every bend, bugged hotel rooms, armed agents every 10 feet, metal detectors out the wazoo.

What I got (who knows, maybe they’re pranking me!) is nothing.

No damn security.

Not in transport.

Not in the hotel.

Not in the event.

Like, the one thing that I immediately noticed walking into the hotel is the sense of arrogance.

I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat.

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.

Like, if I was an Iranian agent, instead of an American citizen, I could have brought a damn Ma Deuce in here and no one would have noticed shit.

Actually insane.

Oh and if anyone is curious is how doing something like feels: it’s awful. I want to throw up; I want to cry for all the things I wanted to do and never will, for all the people whose trust this betrays; I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done.

Can’t really recommend it! Stay in school, kids.

Allen Attended ‘No Kings’ Protest

Other details were provided about Allen by the White House official, including that Allen was part of a group called “The Wide Awakes” and attended at least one “No Kings” protest in California. The Wide Awakes originated as an anti-slavery political organization set up to elect Abraham Lincoln during the 1860 presidential election, and a social action movement has formed under that name more recently.
 

The No Kings demonstrations are a series of anti-Trump protests that have been held in a number of cities across the United States in 2025 and 2026.

One No Kings demonstration held in March was organized to oppose the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.

The official said Allen purchased two handguns and a shotgun from Cap Tactical Firearms, an online firearms portal, and kept the firearms at a parent’s home. His parents were not aware he was keeping the guns in the home, the official added.

🚨 JUST NOW: The Trump DOJ just FURIOUSLY DEMANDED the activist organization DROP their lawsuit that’s blocking the White House ballroom

If they refuse? The DOJ will surge to DISSOLVE and DISMISS THE CASE! 🔥

“Put simply, your lawsuit puts the lives of the President, his… pic.twitter.com/n9gw43x842

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 26, 2026

 

AG Says Investigation ‘Quite Preliminary’

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the investigation into the case is ongoing and “quite preliminary,” as he spoke to NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning.

Allen is not cooperating with law enforcement officials, Blanche added. He said law enforcement officials are investigating “some writings” and are speaking with people who knew him.

“I kept it a little general because we do believe it was administration officials,” he said. “Obviously, President Trump is a member of the administration, the head of it, but, but as far as exacting threats that may have been communicated beforehand, we’re still actively investigating that evidence.”

Blanche declined to provide more details about Allen’s writings or his motivations.

“At this point, we do not have somebody who is cooperating,” Blanche said.

Trump, Administration ‘Likely’ the Target

Also in the interview, Blanche said Allen was “likely” targeting Trump and administration officials. He cited findings that were made during the initial phase of the investigation.
 

“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks that work in the administration, likely including the president, but I want to wait and not get ahead of us on that,” he said.

Allen is expected be formally charged on Monday morning in federal court, the acting attorney general said.

“Not atypically, in a case like this, there will be an assault of a federal officer charge,” Blanche said. “There will be a charge about him discharging a firearm and attempting to kill a federal officer, and then there are potentially charges beyond that that come from reviewing of the evidence and if we understand his motivations and as we continue to gather.”
 

California Rep. Ted Lieu is now facing mass calls for expulsion after it was revealed that last night’s attempted assassin, who is from California, acted on the exact lies he made about President Trump.

Call and ask why he is convincing his constituents to commit acts of terror. pic.twitter.com/Z853Janww1

— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) April 26, 2026

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