WHCD Gunman Cole Allen Sent Anti-Trump Manifesto Minutes Before Opening Fire

Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old teacher from Torrance, California, has been identified as the suspect who allegedly opened fire at Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Dinner inside the Washington Hilton, in an attack that triggered the immediate evacuation of President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and several Cabinet officials. Law enforcement officials told the Associated Press that Allen traveled cross-country by train and was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and knives when he attempted to charge past a security checkpoint outside the ballroom.

Roughly ten minutes before the shooting began, Allen sent a 1,052-word manifesto to family members, according to sources who shared the document with the New York Post. Signed "Cole 'coldForce' 'Friendly Federal Assassin' Allen," the missive laid out what he called his "rules of engagement," naming administration officials as primary targets ranked from highest to lowest, while instructing himself to spare hotel staff, guests, Capitol Police and the National Guard. He wrote that he would use buckshot rather than slugs to "minimize casualties" by reducing wall penetration.

The manifesto framed the attack as a moral obligation, with Allen writing that he was "no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes." He preemptively answered a series of objections to his plan, including religious arguments about turning the other cheek, which he dismissed as "complicity in the oppressor's crimes" when applied to the suffering of others. He also mocked what he described as the lax security he encountered on every leg of his journey to Washington, calling it "actually insane."

Allen exchanged gunfire with officers before being subdued and taken into custody. Photographs released by the White House showed him handcuffed on the floor following his arrest. Acting Attorney General officials said Sunday that Allen is not currently cooperating with investigators, and he was being evaluated at a local hospital. No fatalities among guests or officials have been reported, though the full extent of injuries to law enforcement has not been disclosed.

President Trump, who was rushed from the stage by Secret Service agents as shots rang out, returned to address reporters later that evening and insisted the annual press dinner should continue. Speaking from the White House on Sunday, Trump described a moment of "political unity" in the immediate aftermath, saying the room "was just coming together" before the gunfire erupted. The Secret Service and FBI have launched a joint investigation into how an armed assailant was able to reach a checkpoint at one of the most heavily protected events on the Washington calendar.

The attack marks the second known attempt on Trump's life since his return to the campaign trail and presidency, and is expected to prompt an immediate review of protective protocols around large-scale presidential events. Lawmakers from both parties condemned the violence Sunday, with several calling for a hardened perimeter and tighter screening at future high-profile gatherings involving the president, vice president and senior administration officials.