Kamal Ghorui
United States federal prosecutors on Thursday released surveillance video showing the moment alleged would-be assassin Cole Tomas Allen – armed with guns and knives – tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and attempt to kill Donald Trump.In a video released by US attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro on X, Allen is seen casing a hallway at the Washington Hilton Hotel and then storming through a Secret Service checkpoint. The footage shows Allen walking along a hallway with the same carpet design seen in visuals from the shooting scene the following night. It also shows him entering a gym adjacent to the hallway, speaking to an attendant, and then walking back out.Two officers are seen beginning to dismantle one of two magnetometers set up at the location as what appears to be Allen walks down the hallway and through a side door, around 10 steps behind the checkpoint.Allen was injured but not shot during the Saturday night attack at the Washington Hilton, which disrupted one of the highest-profile annual events in the US capital.“Today, we are releasing video already provided to the US District Court showing Cole Allen shoot a US Secret Service officer during his attempt to assassinate the President at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” Pirro said.She also pushed back against speculation, stating, “There is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire.”“The video also shows Allen casing the area in the Hilton Hotel the day before the attack. My office, along with the FBI, will continue this extensive investigation to bring Cole Allen to justice,” she added.Meanwhile, on Monday, US Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Department of Justice has filed three federal charges against Allen, the 31-year-old suspect, as the investigation continues.The incident unfolded on Saturday night at the Washington Hilton in Washington DC while Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other senior officials were present.Allen exchanged gunfire with Secret Service agents outside the venue before being taken into custody.Investigators said Allen approached a security checkpoint at the hotel and rushed through a magnetometer carrying a long gun. Secret Service personnel heard a gunshot as he moved through, and one officer was shot in the chest but was protected by a ballistic vest, according to court documents unsealed on Monday.Federal prosecutors said Allen travelled across multiple state lines with firearms before the attack. He allegedly journeyed by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington between April 21 and April 24, checking into the Hilton on arrival. Prosecutors said he was carrying a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a Rock Island Armoury 1911 .38 calibre pistol and three knives.Pirro said more charges are expected. “Make no mistake, this was an attempted assassination of the president of the United States, with the defendant making clear what his intent was,” she said.She added that the intent was to target as many high-ranking Cabinet officials as possible, calling the allegations proof that “any suggestion that he wasn’t there to do harm is absurd,” and said Allen’s “journey of accountability in the criminal justice system starts today.”Allen was charged on Monday with that crime, along with two additional firearms counts, including discharging a weapon during a crime of violence. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the assassination charge alone.Allen, 31, is from Torrance, California. He worked as a part-time tutor for a test preparation company and is an amateur video game developer.
