The suspect in the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner incident, Cole Tomas Allen, reportedly expressed a desire to eliminate all senior figures in the Trump administration, with one notable exception.
In a detailed letter exceeding 1,000 words, sent to his close friends and family merely ten minutes before his confrontation with Secret Service agents at the Washington Hilton on Saturday evening, the 31-year-old laid out his warped reasoning.
The letter also outlined the so-called ‘rules of engagement’ for his intended attack.
Interestingly, Allen intended to spare one Trump Cabinet official—FBI Director Kash Patel.
“Administration officials (excluding Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” Allen stated.
The reason Patel, aged 46, was excluded from Allen’s list of targets was not clarified in the message.
The crazed shooter did explain later that law enforcement officers were not his intended targets. But they could be considered such if they opened fire on Allen.
‘Secret Service: they are targets only if necessary, and to be incapacitated non-lethally if possible (aka, I hope they’re wearing body armor because center mass with shotguns messes up people who *aren’t*.’
President Donald Trump and his Cabinet were all targets of suspected gunman Cole Tomas Allen except FBI Director Kash Patel, according to the California man’s manifesto
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, was apprehended by authorities after running past Secret Service agents during the WHCD before Trump was expected to give remarks
Allen also said he would not target law enforcement, hotel guests and workers or dinner attendees unless absolutely necessary
‘Hotel Security: not targets if at all possible (aka unless they shoot at me),’ Allen wrote.
Capitol Police and National Guard were also not to be targeted unless they opened fire on the California man who trained across the country with a shotgun, handgun and knives for the attack, he continued.
Hotel guests and dinner attendees were ‘not targets at all,’ he added.
Though he said anyone in the building could be targeted ‘if it were absolutely necessary,’ because they chose ‘to attend a speech’ given by Trump.
When asked about his name being left off the list during a press conference on Monday, Patel declined to comment on why he was excluded from the target list.
Though it’s unclear why Patel was excluded, some law enforcement officials believe it has to do with the FBI Director’s position in law enforcement.
‘Anything would really just be speculation, but he took the time to go through why he wasn’t targeting all of the law-enforcement agencies, so I think it’s probably related to that,’ a law enforcement source told the New York Post.
It could also be because the FBI Director is Hindu and Allen ‘was pretty anti-Christian and Kash is Hindu,’ the source added.
A picture of the pump-action shotgun Allen brought to the dinner
Another source told the outlet that Allen ‘specifically said he didn’t want to target law enforcement. That’s why.’
Allen was arraigned on Monday and given charges for attempted assassination of the president, transporting a firearm across state lines to commit a felony and discharging a gun.
He faces up to life in prison if convicted of all the charges.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said that Allen is not cooperating with authorities.
A Secret Service agent was shot during the debacle but survived the incident because his bulletproof vest stopped the shot, Trump has said.
