In a text sent to family and friends, the engineer said his main targets were senior government officials
Cole Allen, the shooter who tried to invade the US (Republican) president’s dinner with authorities and journalists on Saturday (25.Apr.2026), sent a text to family members before clashing with Secret Service agents at the Washington Hilton Hotel, where the event was taking place.
In the text, Allen wrote that he intended to kill Trump administration officials. His main targets were authorities from the Republican administration, with the exception of the director of the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), Kash Patel. This information had been released earlier by the US Department of Justice, but as a preliminary conclusion.
Allen wrote that no person would stop him from reaching his targets.
“I would go through just about anyone here to get to the targets if I absolutely had to (based on the idea that most people ‘chose’ to participate in a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and cheater and are therefore complicit), but I really hope it doesn’t come to that.”these.
According to information from , Allen mentioned his Christian faith several times in the document.
The shooter also referenced political issues facing the current administration, including the Trump administration’s attacks on Venezuelan drug traffickers’ vessels and the detention of illegal migrants.
Read the full translated part of the manifesto attributed to Cole Allen:
“Hello everybody!
“So maybe I surprised a lot of people today. Let me start by apologizing to everyone whose trust I abused. I apologize to my parents for saying that I had an interview without specifying that it was for ‘Most Wanted’.
“I apologize to my colleagues and students for saying I had a personal emergency (by the time anyone reads this, I will probably actually NEED to go to the ER, but I can hardly say it wasn’t self-inflicted).
“I apologize to every person I traveled alongside, to every worker who handled my luggage, and to every other non-target person in the hotel who I put in danger simply by being nearby.
“I apologize to everyone who was abused and/or murdered before this, to everyone who suffered before I could attempt this, and to everyone who may still suffer afterward, regardless of my success or failure.
“I don’t expect forgiveness, but if I could have seen any other way to get so close, I would have chosen it. Again, my sincere apologies.
“As for why I did all this:
“I am a citizen of the United States of America.
“What my representatives do reflects on me.
“And I am no longer willing to allow a pedophile, rapist and cheater to stain my hands with his crimes.
“(Well, to be completely honest, I haven’t been willing for a long time, but this is the first real chance I’ve had to do something about it.)
“While I’m at it, I’ll also explain my expected rules of engagement (probably in a terrible way, but I’m not in the military, so bear with me).
“Administration employees (not including Mr. Patel): are targets, prioritized from the highest to the lowest position.
“Secret Service: they are targets only if necessary, and to be non-lethal incapacitated if possible (i.e., I hope they are wearing body armor, because shots to the center of the body with shotguns cause damage even to those who ‘shouldn’t’).
“Hotel security: not targets if possible (that is, unless they shoot me).
“Capitol Police: same thing as hotel security.
“National Guard: same thing as hotel security.
“Hotel employees: not targets at all.
“Guests: are not targets at all.
“To minimize casualties, I will also use buckshot cartridges instead of single projectiles (slugs), as they pass through fewer walls.
“Still, I would go through just about anyone here to get to the targets if I absolutely had to (based on the idea that most people ‘chose’ to participate in a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and cheater and are therefore complicit), but I really hope it doesn’t come to that.”
Read the original part of the manifesto below:
ATTACK ON TRUMP’S DINNER
Read below what is known so far:
- what there was – an armed man during an event with Trump, the Secret Service responded and shots were fired;
- what was the event – the traditional dinner with sector journalists at the White House, held on April 25, 2026 at the Washington Hilton Hotel, in the US capital, with the Republican, the 1st echelon of the Trump administration, media professionals and guests;
- Trump escorted – as soon as the shots were heard, the Secret Service;
- who is the suspect – He is 31 years old, an engineer graduated from Caltech and living in California. He was carrying two firearms and several knives at the time he was restrained by the Secret Service. He is in the custody of the authorities;
- “lone wolf” – after the attack, Trump spoke to journalists and said he believed Cole Allen – he also had a photo of the man on his social media profile;
- injured in the attack – Trump stated that he, First Lady Melania, Vice President JD Vance and other members of the government who were at the dinner are fine, but that a Secret Service agent was . He said he spoke with the officer, who is fine and was wearing a bulletproof vest.
JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION
Saturday’s dinner (April 25) between journalists and the President of the United States, , was organized by (“White House Correspondents Association”). The most correct way to translate the name of this private entity is “Association of Journalists who Cover the White House”.
A , in response to a statement by the then US president, Woodrow Wilson, who in 1913 said that he could end the tradition of participating in interviews with journalists, as “certain afternoon newspapers” (without saying which ones) they would be publishing phrases that he considered to have given privately.
The 1st Annual WHCA Dinner was held on May 7, 1921 at the Arlington Hotel on the corner of Vermont Avenue and L Street in Washington. The then US president, Warren G. Harding, did not attend the event. The first North American president to attend the dinner was Calvin Coolidge, in 1924.
Over the years, the dinner has become a tradition in the North American political world, in the country’s capital. The location changes from time to time. It’s always an opportunity for the country’s president to speak in a more relaxed way, listen and tell jokes.
These opportunities are seen as a celebration of freedom of expression, one of the most popular rights in the country and enshrined in 1791 by the , which prevents Congress from creating laws that limit freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion and petitioning the government.
