A manifesto penned by the suspected assailant of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner criticizes the event’s security measures and recounts his journey to Washington, D.C.
Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old educator from Torrance, California, attempted to bypass a security checkpoint armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives on Saturday evening.
During the incident, Allen exchanged gunfire with Secret Service agents before being subdued and apprehended. One agent was hit in the bulletproof vest but is expected to make a full recovery. Fortunately, no other injuries were reported.
The New York Post released Allen’s manifesto, which outlines his motivations for the attack, his self-imposed ‘rules of engagement,’ and a critique of the minimal security he encountered.
In a postscript, Allen questioned the efficiency of the Secret Service, writing, “What the hell is the Secret Service doing?”
He expressed surprise at the lack of security, stating, “I expected security cameras at every bend, bugged hotel rooms, armed agents every 10 feet, metal detectors out the wazoo. What I got (who knows, maybe they’re pranking me!) is nothing.”
The radicalized teacher described a ‘sense of arrogance’ at the Washington Hilton Hotel, where the dinner was held.
‘The security at the event is all outside… because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before,’ Allen wrote.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, a teacher from Torrance, California, is the suspected shooter of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. He mocked the event’s lack of security in his manifesto
Secret Service agents were seen with their guns drawn as they gave people orders
Allen is seen after he was tackled to the ground and handcuffed by authorities
He said that the security was so lacking that, ‘if I was an Iranian agent, instead of an American citizen, I could have brought a damn Ma Deuce in here and no one would have noticed sh**.’
Ma Deuce is a nickname for the M2 Browning .50-caliber machine gun.
Earlier in his manifesto, Allen explained why he had attempted to break into the dinner and kill top Trump administration officials.
‘I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,’ he wrote, likely in reference to President Donald Trump. He said that as a citizen of the US, what his representatives do reflects on him.
The suspected shooter added that he had wanted to take action for a long time, ‘but this is the first real opportunity I’ve had to do something about it.’
He then went on to explain his ‘rules of engagement’ and outlined who his targets were.
‘Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,’ Allen wrote. It is unclear why Kash Patel, the director of the FBI, was spared from his hit list.
Allen then listed other targets in order of priority. He wrote that Secret Service agents who get in his way were ‘targets only if necessary,’ and that he hoped to incapacitate them ‘non-lethally if possible.’
Allen wrote in his manifesto that Secret Service agents would only be targets if necessary and that he would try to incapacitate them ‘non-lethally if possible.’ A Secret Service agent is pictured shouting during the shooting
Allen also wrote that he would ‘go through most everyone here to get to the targets’ because they ‘*chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor.’ Guests of the dinner are pictured taking cover during the shooting
‘I hope they’re wearing body armor because center mass with shotguns messes up people who *aren’t*,’ he wrote. Allen reportedly did later shoot one Secret Service agent in a bulletproof vest.
He also wrote that hotel security, Capitol police and national guardsmen would only be targets if they shot at him first.
Hotel guests and employees were ‘not targets at all,’ he wrote.
‘In order to minimize casualties I will also be using buckshot rather than slugs (less penetration through walls),’ Allen’s manifesto continued.
But he ominously added: ‘I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people *chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn’t come to that.’
In the manifesto, Allen also included a section of ‘Rebuttals to objections’ of him carrying out the shooting, and he apologized to family members, his students and the people he encountered on his way to carry out the shooting.
It is believed that Allen traveled by train from California to Chicago, and then onto Washington DC to check into the Washington Hilton Hotel before the dinner on Saturday. He may have chosen to travel by train to avoid airport security.
He signed the manifesto ‘Cole “coldForce” “Friendly Federal Assassin” Allen.’
Harrowing surveillance footage captured the moment Allen stormed past security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
In his manifesto, Allen apologized to his family, students and people he encountered on the way to commit the shooting. He signed the manifesto ‘Cole “coldForce” “Friendly Federal Assassin” Allen’
Federal prosecutors have announced that Allen is being charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.
If convicted, Allen could face 20 years in jail for the assault, while the weapons charges come with a minimum of ten years with a possibility of life behind bars if fired.
‘It is clear, based upon what we know so far, this individual was intent on doing as much harm and as much damage as he could,’ United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said.
‘There will be many more charges based upon the information that we are learning in this very fluid situation,’ she added.
Cops swarmed on Allen’s parents’ $877,000 home on Saturday night shortly after he was arrested.
Allen is one of four siblings, including two sisters, Stephanie and Arviana, and a brother, Gabriel, according to publicly available information.
His social media details indicate he is highly educated and academically accomplished.
On LinkedIn, he describes himself as: ‘A mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth.’
Allen is highly educated and academically accomplished, according to his social media. He has no prior criminal record and was unknown to law enforcement in Washington DC
Allen earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology and later a Master of Science in Computer Science from a California State University.
Officials said Allen has no prior criminal record and was not previously known to law enforcement in Washington DC.
