A judge in the District of Columbia ruled on Thursday that Cole Allen, the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump during the Annual White House Correspondents' Dinner last Saturday, will be held in pretrial detention without bail.
According to information from the agency Efe, the hearing lasted only 15 minutes and ended with an unexpected twist: Allen's defense, which on Wednesday had filed a court document to challenge the precautionary measure, withdrew from contesting it and accepted that their client will remain in custody.
Allen appeared in court wearing an orange jumpsuit and had no prior criminal record.
The District of Columbia prosecutor, Jeanine Pirro, requested preventive detention and warned this Thursday on Fox News that "many more charges" are planned against Allen once the grand jury intervenes, the group of citizens that must determine whether the prosecution has probable cause to formally accuse him of serious federal crimes.
At the moment, Allen faces three charges: attempted murder of the president, a crime that could result in a life sentence; interstate transportation of a firearm to commit a felony; and discharging a weapon during a violent crime, with a mandatory minimum sentence of ten consecutive years.
The attack occurred last Saturday around 8:30 PM at the Washington Hilton, where the 105th edition of the dinner was being held with approximately 2,000 attendees, including Trump, First Lady Melania, Vice President JD Vance, and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
According to the account from the prosecutor's office, Allen ran at high speed, evaded the metal arch of a security checkpoint, and fired a shotgun in the direction of the ballroom.
A Secret Service agent was shot in the chest, but the bullet was stopped by his bulletproof vest, as confirmed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
The agents responded with five shots, and Allen fell to the ground and was subdued without suffering any gunshot wounds.
The incident did not result in any fatalities, although Trump and the other officials were urgently evacuated and panic ensued among the attendees.
According to court documents, Allen planned the attack for weeks and traveled across the country by train from California to Washington to transport the weapons without passing through airport security checks.
In addition, he reserved two nights at the hotel where the gala was taking place so he could enter as a guest without being invited to the dinner.
About ten minutes before the attack, Allen sent his family a manifesto of approximately 1,000 words in which he identified targets among Trump administration officials prioritized by rank, and referred to the president as a "pedophile, rapist, and traitor."
The accused also scheduled emails to family and friends in which he apologized.
The Department of Justice filed three federal charges against Allen on Monday, April 28, following the attack that marked the third assassination attempt against Trump in less than two years, after the incidents in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024, and in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September of that same year.
In February of this year, the Secret Service shot a man armed with a weapon who stormed into Mar-a-Lago carrying a gun and a fuel container, although Trump was not present at the residence at that time.
Allen's next court appearance is scheduled for May 11, 2026, as a preliminary hearing, when the grand jury may expand the charges against him.
Pirro was emphatic in assessing the case: "Let this be a message to anyone who thinks that Washington D.C. is the place to engage in political violence. What the laws do not allow is to enforce them through violence, especially when directed against the president. This is fundamentally undemocratic."
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