Cole Tomas Allen Shot Secret Service Officer at Washington Hilton Correspondents’ Dinner, Prosecutors Say

A shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., disrupted one of the highest-profile annual events in the nation’s capital and left a Secret Service officer injured as the suspect tried to storm a security checkpoint.

Federal prosecutors released a video showing the moment authorities say a man armed with guns and knives tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and attempt to kill President Donald Trump, and U.S. attorney for Washington Jeanine Pirro posted the video on social media.

BBC

The Associated Press reported that prosecutors had previously claimed the agent was shot in the bullet-resistant vest during the melee, but had not confirmed it was Allen who shot the agent, while Pirro said Thursday that there is no evidence that the officer was hit by friendly fire.

The Hill reported that Secret Service Director Sean Curran told NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network, that the agent was shot at “point-blank range” by the suspect as he charged through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton hotel, and Curran said “Our officer heroically returned fire.”

NewsNation described Curran saying the officer was struck in the chest while wearing a bulletproof vest with a shotgun blast, and it quoted Curran: “Our officer heroically returned fire while being shot point-blank range in the chest with a shotgun.”

Multiple outlets tied the incident to Cole Tomas Allen, with the AP reporting Allen was injured but was not shot during the Saturday night attack, and the BBC reporting that the suspect was named as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, in an affidavit issued by the justice department that night.

A central dispute in the case has been whether the injured Secret Service officer was struck by friendly fire or by gunfire from the suspect.

The Associated Press said prosecutors had previously claimed the agent was shot in the bullet-resistant vest during the melee but had not confirmed it was Allen who shot the agent, and it reported that Pirro posted the video and said Thursday that there is no evidence that the officer was hit by friendly fire.

BBC

The Hill similarly reported that the Secret Service agent injured during the shooting was not hit by friendly fire, citing Secret Service Director Sean Curran’s statement to NewsNation and his interview with Fox News’s Will Cain, where Curran said the agent fired toward the suspect, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, at least five times.

NewsNation quoted Curran saying the officer was struck in the chest while wearing a bulletproof vest with a shotgun blast and also quoted Pirro’s social media post: “There is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire.”

The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported that Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, “They said it wasn’t friendly fire. It wasn’t us,” and it quoted Curran defending the security protocols and saying “Our officer heroically returned fire.”

The BBC described how the investigation evolved and said key details remained unclear, noting that court documents filed by government attorneys do not explicitly allege the accused shot a US Secret Service officer as gunfire rang out, even as Trump and other top officials said the officer was shot and survived thanks to a bulletproof vest.

Secret Service officials described the security setup at the Washington Hilton and the distance between the magnetometers and the podium where President Donald Trump was seated.

The Associated Press reported that Secret Service Director Sean Curran defended the agency’s security plan for the event and said he would not change it, telling Fox News that the attack was stopped within seconds at the outermost perimeter of a multi-layered security bubble around the president.

The AP said Curran described the distance from the magnetometers to the podium where Trump was seated as 355 feet, with two sets of stairs, a doorway and many more armed Secret Service officers in between.

The Hill and Hawaii Tribune-Herald both echoed Curran’s “point blank range” description, with the Hill reporting that Curran said the agent was shot at “point-blank range” by the suspect as he charged through a security checkpoint.

Fox News reported Curran saying the officer was shot point-blank range in the chest with a shotgun and that the officer’s actions were an example of “great training,” adding that the magnetometer was almost 355 feet from the podium at the event.

The Associated Press also described the nearly six-minute video released by Pirro showing Allen walking back and forth down a hallway the day before the attack and briefly checking out the hotel gym.

The case against Cole Tomas Allen has been framed by prosecutors as an attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, alongside firearms-related counts, and it has proceeded through federal court with detention decisions.

The Associated Press reported that Allen agreed earlier Thursday to remain jailed while he awaits trial and did not enter a plea during his brief appearance in federal court, while it also said prosecutors had written in court papers pressing for continued detention that Allen took a picture of himself in his hotel room just minutes before the incident.

Fox News

The Hill reported that Allen is facing three federal charges over his alleged efforts to disrupt the annual event and assassinate the president, and it said federal prosecutors alleged in their Wednesday court filing that Allen’s actions were “premeditated, violent, and calculated to cause death.”

NewsNation reported that Allen is charged with attempted assassination of the president, transportation of a firearm with intent to commit a felony and discharging a firearm during a violent crime, and it said he faces up to life in prison if convicted.

NBC News reported that investigators believe Allen shot a Secret Service officer who was wearing a ballistic vest, and it said work continues analyzing Allen’s devices.

The BBC described how prosecutors’ statements changed and said court documents filed by government attorneys do not explicitly allege the accused shot a US Secret Service officer, while it also quoted defense lawyers writing: "The government's evidence of the charged offense — the attempted assassination of the president — is thus built entirely upon speculation, even under the most generous reading of its theory."

Beyond the immediate courtroom fight, the incident has triggered calls for outside scrutiny and debate over how the suspect got close enough to breach a security perimeter.

“Shooting in Washington: new images of the shooter released In the United States, nearly a week after a fresh assassination attempt against Donald Trump, U”

franceinfo

USA Today reported that veteran federal official John Magaw said “Outside probe needed of DC gala shooting,” arguing that FBI and Congress need to investigate how the gunman got so close to President Trump and his Cabinet or “public won't believe” findings.

franceinfo

The outlet said two other reviews were already underway, including one by the White House that would convene the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security, and another by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee overseeing the Secret Service.

USA Today also reported that the Secret Service was conducting its own after-action review and that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche praised the agency’s performance at an April 27 news briefing, calling it a “massive security success story.”

The BBC added that key details about who shot the officer remained unclear and quoted Mark Lesko warning that “any inaccuracies could open the door for defence attorneys to poke holes in the case.”

In the midst of these competing narratives, the President himself told reporters in the Oval Office, “Frankly, the vest did an amazing job because it took a bullet close-up,” and he said the officer was in “great shape.”