Cole Tomas Allen is remanded in custody. The custody hearing will take place on Thursday
Judge Matthew J. Sharbaugh ordered pretrial detention for the 31-year-old suspect. The White House suspect was charged with attempted murder of the President of the United States and two other crimes: using a firearm during a violent crime and transporting a firearm between states with the intent to commit a crime
Federal prosecutor Jocelyn Ballantine claims that Allen crossed several state lines as president of the United States. The suspect allegedly carried a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun, three knives and other weapons. Allen pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecutor asked the judge to order Allen’s preventive detention, as he is being accused of terrorism crimes. Although none of the charges directly mentions terrorism, the prosecutor considers that the attempted assassination of the president can be classified as domestic terrorism. According to American law, this crime carries a sentence of life imprisonment.
The man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump over the weekend appeared in court Monday afternoon for a brief hearing, in which he said few words and showed little emotion.
Cole Tomas Allen, who appeared before a federal judge in a light blue prison uniform, remained virtually motionless during the hearing, listening to the judge and answering his questions with little more than loud, clear “yes” and “no.”
Allen told Judge Matthew Sharbaugh that he has a master’s degree in computer science, that he has not used drugs or alcohol recently and that he wanted the court to appoint defense attorneys to represent him in the case.
The custody hearing will take place on Thursday.
A preliminary hearing was also scheduled for May 11.
After the hearing, the federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, stated that the suspect will face additional charges. “There will be additional charges as the investigation progresses,” Pirro said during a news conference. “But make no mistake, this was an attempted assassination of the President of the United States, and the defendant made clear what his intention was: to eliminate as many high-ranking Cabinet members as possible.”
