Cole Thomas Allen is accused of wanting to kill Trump, an offense that could carry a life sentence, and others related to the transportation and use of weapons.
A US judge in the District of Columbia ordered Cole Allen, accused of seeking to assassinate President Donald Trump, to be held in pre-trial detention without bail this Thursday, at the correspondents’ dinner at the White House on Saturday.
Allen is accused of wanting to kill Trump, a crime that can carry a life sentence, and others related to the transportation and use of weapons.
The accused tried to enter armed the hotel ballroom where the dinner was taking place, with the presence of Trump and the first lady, Melania, several members of the government, the president of the House of Representatives and around two thousand guests.
According to the prosecution’s indictment, at 8:30 pm (local time), Allen ran around the metal security control arch, went to the stairs that led to the dining room and fired a gun.
Secret service agents responded with five shots and Allen, without being hit, fell to the ground, where he was subdued.
The incident caused no casualties, although the shots caused Trump to withdraw.
The accused left several electronic messages before the attack in which he detailed that his target was Trump, whom he called a “pedophile, rapist and traitor”.
According to court documents, Allen planned the attack for weeks and traveled by train from California, armed and to avoid airport security checks.
Furthermore, he booked two nights at the hotel where the dinner was held to be able to enter the premises as a guest, who were the only ones who could access the hotel at the time.
