WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice has launched an investigation into Cole Allen, the alleged shooter at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, to explore his potential connections with the protest group known as “The Wide Awakes” and other online leftist organizations. This information was disclosed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Monday.
During a press conference, Blanche confirmed the investigation when questioned about Allen’s associations with left-wing groups. “Of course, we’re investigating that,” he stated, emphasizing the collaborative efforts of multiple agencies, including the FBI, in scrutinizing Allen’s background. Additionally, Blanche acknowledged reports suggesting Allen’s involvement as a developer for a video game focused on shooter-style, role-playing gameplay.
The Wide Awakes is an informal collective of progressive activists who engage in public demonstrations and activism. They are known for their use of vibrant costumes and identify themselves as a modern reinvention of an abolitionist movement from the Civil War era.
The group’s website declares their mission with statements such as, “We are infinite, disruptive, enlightened, visionary, accountable.” They emphasize their commitment to diversity and creative liberation, portraying it as a participatory endeavor for all. “We want the radical complexity of diversity,” the website asserts, encouraging a form of activism that is self-directed and questioning rather than prescriptive.
The Wide Awakes advocate for non-violent self-emancipation, promoting the idea that questioning existing structures leads to broader perspectives and a safer world. “We don’t need to be told what to believe or how to engage,” the group states, highlighting their belief in the power of inspiration and inquiry.
“We can emancipate ourselves without violence,” the website adds. “We don’t need to be told what to believe or how to engage, we just need to be inspired to question what’s there. Broadening perspective yields a safer world.”
A collection of artists launched the group in 2020, and officials have said Allen considered himself a member.
The 31-year-old, would-be assassin also attended anti-Trump “No Kings” marches last month.
Family members of Allen, a teacher who attended CalTech and later received a master’s degree in computer science from California State University, told investigators that he expressed radical political beliefs and a desire to do “something” to fix the world.
His BlueSky account — where many left-of-center social media users fled after billionaire Elon Musk acquired Twitter, now X — shows he made more than 1,000 posts, many of which attacked President Trump and the GOP.
Allen arrived in Washington, DC, on April 24 and checked into the Washington Hilton after taking a train from Los Angeles by way of Chicago earlier in the week.
Follow the latest on the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner:
He was transporting a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun, a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol and several knives that he later used when he tried to storm into the dinner with the president, vice president and top-ranking Cabinet officials.
In a crazed manifesto emailed to his family minutes before he tried to break into the correspondents’ dinner, Allen allegedly confessed that he intended to target the president and Trump administration officials.
That manifesto was published in an affidavit accompanying a criminal complaint filed Monday against Allen in DC federal court accusing him of attempting to assassinate Trump.
Charges for transporting a firearm and ammunition across state lines with the intent to commit a felony and for discharging a firearm during a crime of violence were also listed.
Allen faces life in federal prison if convicted of attempted assassination, and 20 years upon conviction for the other charges.
He’s scheduled to appear in DC federal court Thursday for a detention hearing.
