US President Donald Trump said that the suspect in the attempted attack on administration officials at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night had an anti-Christian manifesto and “a lot of hatred in his heart”, but that he was stopped well before the hotel hall where the event was held.
Trump told Fox News that the suspect is a “sick man” and that his family had previously raised concerns about him with law enforcement. The suspect, identified by an official as Cole Thomas Allen of Torrance, California, was arrested at the scene in Washington.
“When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians,” Trump said on Fox News’ “Sunday Briefing.”
The manifesto was sent to Allen’s family members shortly before the attack, a law enforcement official told Reuters. The suspect called himself the “Friendly Federal Killer,” the official said.
“Turning the other cheek when someone else is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the crimes of the oppressor,” the manifesto states, according to the official.
Among the targets listed in the manifesto were administration officials – but not FBI Director Kash Patel – ranked in order of priority from highest to lowest, the official said.
The manifesto mocked the “insane” lack of security at the Washington Hilton Hotel, where the dinner was held, the official added.
“What I immediately noticed upon entering the hotel was a feeling of arrogance,” the author of the manifesto allegedly wrote. “I went in with multiple weapons and nobody there even thought I could be a threat.”
The suspect traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington, acting US Attorney General Todd Blanch told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” adding that Trump and top members of his administration were likely targets.
Political violence
Officials said the suspect fired a shotgun at a Secret Service agent at a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton before being subdued and arrested.
Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other cabinet members were rushed out of the dinner during the incident. The Secret Service agent who was hit escaped serious injury because the bullet grazed his protective vest, Trump said.
Trump, who previously boycotted this media gala dinner, asked that the event be rescheduled within 30 days, adding: “It was supposed to be an important event.”
The suspect will be charged in federal court on Monday with assault on a federal employee, use of a firearm and attempted murder of a federal employee, Blanche said, adding that he did not know if the attack had anything to do with Iran. Additional federal indictments will follow later, Blanch said.
Saturday’s incident comes amid a growing wave of political violence in the United States in recent years. Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was killed at a rally last September, just months after the June 2025 murder of Minnesota Democratic Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband and the wounding of a Minnesota senator that same month.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in the days after Kirk’s murder found that Americans believe increasingly harsh political rhetoric is fueling violence in the US.
Leaders around the world condemned the attack and expressed relief that Trump and everyone present were safe. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called it an attack “on our free and open societies”, while the leaders emphasized that violence has no place in a democracy.
The planned visit of British King Charles to the USA, which should begin on Monday, will continue, Trump and British officials announced. The British Embassy said it was discussing whether the incident could affect the planning of the visit.
Suspect planned to “do something”
Little was immediately known about the 31-year-old suspect’s background, but social media posts indicated he was a teacher in Torrance, near Los Angeles.
Interim Washington Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives.
A White House official said law enforcement officers who spoke with Allen’s sister were told he had a tendency to make radical statements, attended the anti-Trump “No Kings” protest and mentioned a plan to do “something” to solve the problems of the world today.
Allen bought two handguns and a shotgun and kept them at his parents’ home, a White House official said.
The chaotic events, which began around 8:35 p.m., raised new questions about the security of top US officials, many of whom were gathered in the hotel’s grand hall.
The evening was attended by numerous members of Trump’s cabinet and other high-ranking officials of the administration, with increased security. It was the first time Trump attended this event as president, having boycotted it in previous years.
Security personnel in combat uniform stormed the stage, pointing guns at the auditorium, as Trump, his wife Melania and Vice President JD Vance were evacuated. Cabinet members seated at tables across the great hall were led out individually, escorted by their security teams.
The venue of the dinner was also the site of an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, who was wounded in front of that hotel in 1981.
Trump remained backstage for about an hour after being rushed off the stage, a source told Reuters. He later said he did not want to leave the event, which brought to mind the scenes in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2024, when he defiantly raised his fist after narrowly avoiding an assassination attempt.
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