Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, has been identified as the heavily armed man who sprinted through metal detectors and tried to shoot up the White House Correspondents’ Dinner where President Trump was scheduled to speak.
Secret Service agents tackled him to the ground outside the Washington Hilton’s ballroom on Saturday as Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were hustled offstage, followed soon after by cabinet members, as attendees dove under their tables for cover. A secret service agent who was shot during the melee was saved by his bulletproof vest and expected to be okay.
Cole was armed with a .38-caliber semi-automatic pistol and a 12-gauge shotgun, authorities told CNN. Both had been legally purchased in California, according to the Los Angeles Times, while Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche told “Meet the Press” that Cole had acquired them “within the last couple of years.”
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FBI agents investigate Sunday near a house in Torrance, California linked to the suspect in the White House Correspondents Dinner shooting. (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
A motive was still unclear Sunday, but Department of Justice officials said Cole had left behind writings that indicated he was targeting administration officials, including Trump. Authorities said he had written a “manifesto” of sorts indicating his contempt for the Trump administration.
Minutes before he sprinted through metal detectors and almost made it through a security checkpoint outside the venue, Cole allegedly wrote to some of his family members venting about his contempt for the Trump administration’s policies and dubbing himself “the Friendly Federal Assassin.”
FBI agents searched his California home and a 10th-floor room at the Washington Hilton, where the scuttled event was held, the Los Angeles Times reported. FBI agents were also poring through his electronics and writings and had spoken to family members.
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FBI tactical agents are pictured Saturday night near a house in Torrance, California believed to be linked to the suspect in the White House Correspondents Dinner shooting. (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
Though not affiliated with a political party, Cole was registered to vote. In October 2024 he donated $25 to the Act Blue Political Action Committee, earmarked for the presidential campaign of Kamala Harris, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing Federal Election Commission records.
Cole’s LinkedIn profile indicates he graduated from Caltech in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He belonged to the school’s Christian fellowship and Nerf club.
According to his profile, he worked part time at a tutoring service that preps high school students for testing. He also listed himself as an independent game developer, describing himself as a “mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth.”
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Agents respond after shots were fired during the White House Correspondents dinner at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)
Former student Jason said Cole didn’t strike him as the violent type.
“You wouldn’t expect him to be plotting some crazy, evil plan to kill the president,” Jason, 17, told NPR. “He was just quirky because he was a just really smart guy.”
Cole was credited in 2017 with developing a wheelchair emergency brake that prevented the chair from skidding, something regular wheelchairs don’t do, according to a report at the time.
He is due in court Monday to face charges of using a firearm during a violent crime and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said Saturday. She said more federal charges could be filed as the investigation unfolds.
With News Wire Services