Investigators are treating anti-Trump sentiment as the driving force behind an armed suspect's attempt to breach the White House Correspondents' Dinner, where the president and senior administration officials were gathered.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, allegedly sent a manifesto to family members roughly 10 minutes before opening fire. The document, which the New York Post obtained and published in full, contained a ranked list of targets with Trump administration officials positioned at the top of the priority list.
Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed the investigative direction in a television interview. "We do believe, based upon just a very preliminary start to understanding what happened, that he was targeting members of the administration," he said.
An official with direct knowledge of the investigation verified to the Guardian that the manifesto published by the Post was authentic. In it, Allen referred to himself as the "Friendly Federal Assassin" and outlined specific carve-outs for certain government figures. He indicated that FBI Director Kash Patel would not be targeted and that Secret Service agents would only be engaged if they opened fire. Hotel security, Capitol police, and National Guard personnel were marked as "not targets if at all possible," while hotel employees and guests were designated as off-limits entirely.
Allen's writings revealed his philosophical opposition to the administration's policies and actions. "I am a citizen of the United States of America," one passage read. "What my representatives do reflects on me. And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes." He further wrote, "I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done."
The suspect's grievances, while not mentioning Trump by name, touched on various administration actions including U.S. strikes on drug smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific. Allen also invoked Christian theology to justify his position, writing that "turning the other cheek when someone else is oppressed is not Christian behavior, it is complicity in the oppressor's crimes."
About 10 minutes before the shooting, Allen sent his writings to family members. A relative, identified by White House officials as Allen's brother, immediately contacted New London, Connecticut, police at 10:49 p.m., roughly two hours after the incident occurred. The police department then notified federal law enforcement.
Federal agents discovered that Allen had traveled from California to Chicago by train before heading to Washington. He checked into the hotel where the dinner was held days in advance. During subsequent interviews with Allen's sister in Maryland, investigators learned that he had legally purchased multiple weapons from a California gun store and stored them at their parents' home in Torrance without the family's knowledge.
Author James Rodriguez: "The manifesto's religious rhetoric and methodical targeting list paint a picture of someone who carefully planned this attack, making the investigation's focus on ideological motive entirely justified."
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