Cole Tomas Allen, the shooter who opened fire at the White House correspondents’ gala dinner, had a history of extremist statements and a habit of making politically radical comments. His sister explained this during the interrogation with the US Secret Service. The woman, who lives with her family in Rockville, Maryland, told officers that her brother spoke of a desire to do “something” to address what he said were the world’s problems.
The “manifesto” of Cole Tomas Allen
What the woman reported appears to be consistent with the long message Cole himself sent to the family a few minutes before carrying out the attack. In the text, the 31-year-old uses harsh words of accusation against Trump: “I am no longer willing to allow a pedophile, rapist and traitor to stain my hands with his crimes”, we read in the lines published by the New York Post, which represent a sort of manifesto for the attacker. “I don’t expect forgiveness – he writes – but if I had seen another way to achieve the goal, I would have implemented it.”
The attack
The shooting took place on Saturday 25 April at the Hilton in Washington, during the event that annually brings together White House correspondents, in the presence of over 2 thousand journalists, President Donald Trump and the main members of his administration: Vice President JD Vance, advisor Todd Blanche, FBI director Kash Patel. Cole opened fire as he tried to reach the room where Trump was also present.
The attack ended without casualties. Only one Secret Service agent, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, was injured and survived. However, the attack raised doubts and criticisms about the surveillance system surrounding the event, and in particular about the fact that the security perimeter did not include the hotel as a whole, but only the floors around the dinner room.