Prosecutors Release Video Showing Cole Tomas Allen Attempting To Storm White House Dinner

Federal prosecutors released video showing the moment authorities say Cole Tomas Allen tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and attempt to kill President Donald Trump, after he ran through security at the Washington Hilton hotel in Washington, D.C.

“A police dog at the White House Correspondents Dinner appeared to have gotten a sniff of the would-be assassin – but was pulled away seconds before Saturday’s shooting, new security footage shows”

New York Post

The PBS account says Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for Washington, posted the video on social media and that 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.”

New York Post

PBS reports that Pirro posted the video “amid questions over whose bullet struck a Secret Service officer,” and it adds 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.

PBS states that “The video appears to show Allen run through a magnetometer and point his weapon at the agent, who fired back five times, according to authorities,” while also noting that “It's not clear from the video at what moment Allen's weapon fires.”

PBS further says Allen was injured but “was not shot during the Saturday night attack at the Washington Hilton,” and that Allen agreed earlier Thursday “to remain jailed while he awaits trial.”

The WRAL report similarly describes the video as showing Allen “walk through a doorway in the hall leading to the security check point,” and it says prosecutors say the video shows Allen and a Secret Service officer “exchange fire.”

Together, the accounts place the incident at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., during the Saturday night event attended by Trump and administration officials, and they frame the released footage as central to disputes over what Allen did and when the shooting occurred.

The released footage is described as edited security camera footage that prosecutors provided to court, with multiple outlets emphasizing uncertainty about whether Allen fired first.

The Guardian says Pirro released “edited security camera footage” and that in a caption she claimed the video showed Allen “casing the hotel location the night before Saturday’s dinner, and then shooting a Secret Service agent as he rushed through a metal detector.”

PBS

The Guardian also states that “While the video does show four muzzle flashes from an agent’s gun as he fired at Allen, it was not immediately clear whether it showed Allen discharging his weapon after he pointed it at the agent.”

PBS similarly reports that “It's not clear from the video at what moment Allen's weapon fires,” and it adds that prosecutors had not confirmed earlier whether Allen shot the agent.

WRAL describes the camera sequence in more granular terms, saying the video shows Allen “walk through a doorway in the hall leading to the security check point,” then an officer and his dog approach the door, and that “one second later the suspect can be seen rushing back out of the doorway with a shotgun, running toward the security checkpoint.”

WRAL adds that Pirro said “There is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire,” and it notes that prosecutors filed the video along with other images “allegedly of Allen, his hotel room, a used shotgun casing, and the other weapons and gear Allen allegedly had, including a pistol, knives and tape.”

PBS reports that Allen agreed to remain jailed while he awaits trial and that he “did not enter a plea during his brief appearance in federal court.”

The Guardian adds that Allen was charged on Monday with attempting to assassinate the US president, transportation of firearms to commit a felony, and unlawful discharge of a firearm during violence, and it says he “has yet to enter a plea in the case.”

Several outlets focus on a police dog appearing to sniff near a doorway seconds before Allen rushed through the security checkpoint, and they describe how the dog was pulled away.

“Federal prosecutors released footage on Thursday of the moment officials say Cole Tomas Allen tried to storm last week’s White House Correspondents’ Association’s dinner in an alleged attempt to kill Donald Trump”

The Guardian

USA Today says a “33-second video shared by Jeanine Pirro” shows Allen “walking down a hallway in the Washington Hilton Hotel in D.C.” and approaching “a security checkpoint with side-by-side magnetometers,” where he “turns into an open doorway off the hallway.”

USA Today reports that “A vested and leashed K-9 unit crosses the hallway to follow Allen, its handler trailing behind,” and that “The dog follows Allen into the room,” with the dog and handler “off-camera for about three seconds” before the officer “seems to direct the dog away from Allen, pulling its leash.”

USA Today adds that “Just one second after the officer's back is fully turned, Allen can be seen charging from the room and through one of the standing detectors with a weapon in his hands.”

The New York Post similarly says the video released by the Justice Department shows a handler leading a security dog toward the door to a stairwell that Allen would use, and that “The dog lingers at the doorway for about three seconds, then walks away after getting an apparent tug from its handler.”

The New York Post also quotes Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, saying, “The dog obviously knew something was going on and for whatever reason his handler pulled him away,” and it includes a quote from former Assistant FBI Director Chris Swecker that “It looks like the handler pulls the dog back enough for him to open the door and run right past him.”

The Washington Examiner adds that “A K-9 can be seen sniffing at an open door that Allen, 31, walked through to presumably prepare himself before rushing past the security checkpoint,” and it says “the K-9 officer pulled the dog away after he seemingly spoke with Allen.”

The USA Today report also notes that Anthony Guglielmi, spokesman for the Secret Service, “did not immediately respond to questions” about whether the dog handler was part of the Secret Service’s security team or whether proper protocols were followed.

The video release also triggered competing interpretations of what stopped Allen and how security performed, with officials defending the Secret Service plan while critics pointed to lapses.

PBS says Secret Service Director Sean Curran defended the agency's security plan for the event and said he would not change it, describing the attack as stopped “within seconds at the outermost perimeter of a multi-layered security bubble around the president.”

USA Today

PBS quotes Curran saying, “The site was set up perfectly,” and it reports Curran’s claim that the distance from the magnetometers to the podium where Trump was seated was 355 feet, with “two sets of stairs, a doorway and many more armed Secret Service officers in between.”

PBS also says Curran told Fox News that the attack was stopped at the outermost perimeter, and it describes the nearly six-minute video released by Pirro showing Allen walking back and forth down a hallway and briefly checking out the hotel gym.

The Guardian reports that Pirro’s post claimed Allen was stopped after rushing through a metal detector while officers were removing at least one of the two magnetometers used for screening guests, but it also says Curran told Pirro’s former employer Fox News that Allen was stopped not by Secret Service gunfire but by “a box used to transport a metal detector, which he tripped over as he ran through a checkpoint outside the venue.”

The Guardian further says Curran confirmed Allen was not hit by any of the five shots fired at him by a Secret Service agent and includes Curran’s quote: “It appears that the suspect hit his knee, while being engaged by the officer, on one of our magnetometer boxes, and began to fall to the ground, ”.

The New York Post, by contrast, includes criticism from Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton, who said, “The dog obviously knew something was going on and for whatever reason his handler pulled him away,” and it also quotes Chris Swecker saying, “What we do know is they didn’t look on the other side of the door, it doesn’t appear, and identify whoever was getting the dog’s attention.”

USA Today adds that ex-Secret Service chief John Magaw told it in an exclusive interview that checkpoint video appeared to show security personnel “just wandering around, touching things.”

Meanwhile, USA Today reports that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called the incident a “massive security success story” at an April 27 news briefing, and it says the White House and Secret Service are conducting reviews of the incident.

The accounts describe Allen’s background, the charges he faces, and the immediate procedural posture as prosecutors continue to build their case and the Secret Service reviews protocols.

“Newly released footage shows the moments preceding Cole Allen’s foiled shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton last weekend — and how he was almost caught by a police dog”

Washington Examiner

PBS says Allen is 31 and is “from Torrance, California,” and it reports that he “worked as a part-time tutor for a test preparation company and is an amateur video game developer.”

Washington Examiner

PBS also says prosecutors wrote in court papers that Allen took a picture of himself in his hotel room just minutes before the incident and that he was outfitted with “an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife.”

WRAL says prosecutors filed the video along with images “allegedly of Allen, his hotel room, a used shotgun casing, and the other weapons and gear Allen allegedly had, including a pistol, knives and tape,” and it describes the judge’s decision that it would be “a waste of time since Allen was not fighting the detention motion.”

The Guardian says Allen was charged on Monday with “attempting to assassinate the US president,” “transportation of firearms to commit a felony,” and “unlawful discharge of a firearm during violence,” and it adds that he “has yet to enter a plea in the case.”

USA Today provides additional detail about the alleged arsenal, stating that Allen was armed with “a 12-gauge shotgun, a .38 caliber pistol, two knives, four daggers” and “enough ammunition to take dozens of lives,” and it says he was apprehended by “USSS officers mere feet away from the ballroom where his primary target was located.”

USA Today also says “At least one security agent opened fire and was hit in his ballistic vest during the event,” and it reports that Allen appeared in federal court in Washington on April 27.

PBS reports that Allen “faces up to life in prison if convicted of the assassination count alone,” and it states that Allen agreed to remain jailed while he awaits trial.