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A federal grand jury issued a indictment of four charges against Cole Tomas Allen, 31 years old, a resident of Torrance, California, in connection with the shooting on April 25 during the 105th Annual White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton hotel in Washington, D.C., as announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.
The new charge —assault on a federal officer with a deadly weapon— adds to the three federal charges filed on April 28 by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. The announcement was made by federal prosecutor Jeanine Ferris Pirro and supported by FBI Director Kash Patel.
The four charges in the indictment are: attempted murder of President Donald J. Trump; assault on a federal officer with a deadly weapon; interstate transportation of a firearm to commit a felony; and discharge of a firearm during a violent crime.
The associated penalties range from mandatory minimums of 10 years to life imprisonment.
This fourth charge had been provisionally withdrawn at the first hearing on April 27 because it was unclear whether the shot that struck the Secret Service agent came from Allen's weapon.
On April 30, Pirro released a nearly six-minute video that cleared up that doubt: the footage shows in slow motion how Allen aims his 12-gauge shotgun directly at an officer and fires first.
"The video shows Allen firing first" and "there is no evidence of friendly fire" on the injured agent, Pirro stated. The director of the Secret Service, Sean Curran, confirmed that "Allen shot the agent at close range with a 12-gauge shotgun; the agent returned fire despite being hit in the chest."
The Secret Service agent survived thanks to his bulletproof vest, which stopped the bullet. His cellphone was also hit by the shot. Despite the impact, the agent responded with five shots.
The shooting occurred around 8:40 p.m. on April 25, when Allen burst into the security checkpoint on the terrace level of the Washington Hilton, one floor above the main lounge. He was armed with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a .38 semi-automatic pistol, at least three knives, and additional ammunition.
In the main hall, there were about 2,600 people, including President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and cabinet members such as Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, and Tulsi Gabbard. Allen was neutralized before entering the hall.
About 10 minutes before the attack, Allen sent his family a manifesto of approximately 1,000 words, signed as "Cole 'cold face' 'friendly federal killer' Allen," in which he identified officials from the Trump administration as targets prioritized by rank. His brother, a resident of New London, Connecticut, alerted the police after receiving the text.
The FBI director, Kash Patel, was emphatic: "Allen traveled to Washington D.C. with the intent to murder President Trump and senior officials of his administration, assaulting federal agents in the process."
Allen, a graduate of Caltech in mechanical engineering with a master's degree in computer science, had no prior criminal record. At the detention hearing on April 30, his defense did not present any arguments for his release, and the judge ordered him to be held without bail. Since his arrest, Allen has been in solitary confinement 24 hours a day.
A new preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 11, 2026.
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