A man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was captured on video surveying the hotel and later seen dashing past a security checkpoint towards the event’s ballroom.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro unveiled hotel surveillance footage on Thursday, revealing suspect Cole Allen brandishing a weapon at a Secret Service agent inside the Washington Hilton, before authorities apprehended him.
“Today, we are releasing video evidence previously submitted to the U.S. District Court. It shows Cole Allen firing at a U.S. Secret Service officer during his bid to assassinate the President at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” Pirro stated.
She emphasized that the shooting was not an incident of friendly fire. The footage also documents Allen scouting the Hilton Hotel premises the day prior to the attack. Her office, alongside the FBI, is committed to a thorough investigation to ensure Allen faces justice.
The six-minute video begins on Friday, April 24, at approximately 8:59 p.m.
In the initial footage, Allen is seen walking through a hallway, scrutinizing his surroundings, before making his way into the hotel’s gym facilities.
He appears to either acknowledge or greet the person working the desk, even laughing and striking up a conversation and walking through the remainder of the gym.
Three minutes after the first gym footage ends, Allen is seen walking back toward the entrance to the ballroom and past the gym.
Cole Allen, the gunman who allegedly tried to assassinate President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, could be seen on video casing the hotel and later sprinting past a security checkpoint toward the ballroom
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro released hotel surveillance footage Thursday that showed Allen point his weapon at a Secret Service agent in the Washington Hilton before he was taken into custody
Allen, who shot a Secret Service agent before he was taken into custody, is seen expecting the entire hotel on Friday, the night before he opened fire at the event
Then, in footage from Saturday night, he is seen in the top left corner of video attempting to evade security checkpoints.
Shortly thereafter, you can see Allen wielding a shotgun as he barrels through the checkpoints and attempts to get through ballroom door, as federal law enforcement draw their weapons.
Allen agreed earlier Thursday to remain jailed while he awaits trial.
He did not enter a plea during his brief appearance in federal court days after authorities say he ran through a magnetometer at the Washington Hilton while holding a long gun and disrupted one of the highest-profile annual events in the nation´s capital.
Allen was injured during Saturday night’s attack but was not shot. A Secret Service officer was shot but was wearing a bullet-resistant vest and survived, officials say.
Prosecutors have said they believe Allen fired his shotgun at least once and that a Secret Service agent fired five shots. They had not previously confirmed that it was Allen´s bullet that struck the agent´s vest.
In court papers pressing for Allen’s continued detention, prosecutors wrote Wednesday that Allen took a picture of himself in his hotel room just minutes before the incident, and that he was outfitted with an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife.
In a message that authorities say sheds light on his motive, Allen referred to himself as a ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ and alluded obliquely to grievances over a range of Trump administration actions.
You can see Allen with his shotgun barreling through the checkpoints and attempting to get through the doors of the ballrooms, as federal law enforcement draw their weapons
This courtroom sketch depicts Cole Tomas Allen, seated center, the California man arrested in the shooting incident at the correspondents dinner in Washington
President Donald Trump, wife Melania and others are evacuated from the stage at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Allen´s lawyers agreed during the brief hearing before US Magistrate Moxila Upadhyaya to keep their client behind bars for now after initially arguing in court papers that Allen should be released.
In a court filing Wednesday, the defense wrote that the government´s case is ‘based upon inferences drawn about Mr. Allen´s intent that raise more questions than answers’ and noted that Allen´s writings never mentioned Trump by name. The defense left the door open to pressing in the future for Allen´s release before trial.
‘The government´s evidence of the charged offense — the attempted assassination of the president — is thus built entirely upon speculation, even under the most generous reading of its theory,’ defense lawyers wrote.
Allen’s lawyers alleged that some of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s statements ‘indicate that the recovered ballistics evidence is inconsistent with aspects of the government´s theory, evidence collected by the government and/or statements made by witnesses.’
The Justice Department, in response, said the evidence shows Allen fired his shotgun at least once in the Secret Service agent’s direction.
Investigators recovered at least one fragment at the crime scene that is consistent with a buckshot pellet, prosecutors wrote.
‘The government is aware of no physical evidence, digital video evidence, or witness statements that are inconsistent with the theory that your client fired his shotgun in the direction’ of the officer or that the officer ‘was indeed shot once in the chest while wearing a ballistic vest,’ prosecutors wrote.
Allen was charged on Monday with that crime, as well as two additional firearms counts, including discharging a weapon during a crime of violence.
Allen attempted to race through security checkpoints to attack the ballroom
PICTURE: Cole Allen is pictured after being detained by Secret Service at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday evening
He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the assassination count alone.
Allen, 31, is from Torrance, California. He is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.
Concerns have swirled over how Allen was able to bring the shotgun, a handgun and knives with him into the hotel without detection.
He was apprehended on a floor above the reception, though had he been able to continue down just one additional flight of stairs, he could’ve breached the dining hall where Trump and his top officials were dining.
After being evacuated to the White House following the gunfire, Trump noted that the hotel was not a particularly secure venue.
According to a manifesto he sent to family members moments before his planned attack, Allen was attempting to take out the President and members of his inner circle.
According to the New York Post, Allen’s manifesto read: ‘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.’
An agent who was shot in his bulletproof vest was released from the hospital and is in ‘good spirits,’ according to the President.
