Grand jury indicts White House Correspondents' dinner suspect on officer assault charge

WASHINGTON (CN) — A federal grand jury indicted Tuesday the California man arrested at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, approving three charges initially brought by prosecutors and adding assault of an officer with a deadly weapon.

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, now faces four counts: attempt to assassinate the president of the United States, assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon, transportation of a firearm and ammunition across state lines with the intent to commit a felony and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. If convicted, Allen faces life in prison.

Prosecutors first charged Allen with three counts due to initial questions regarding whether Allen fired a pump-action shotgun at a U.S. Secret Service agent as he sprinted through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton hotel on April 25. The additional assault charge — under 18 U.S. Code Section 111 — carries with it a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

CCTV footage from the hotel revealed Allen fired an initial shot at an agent, referred to as V.G., and struck his bulletproof vest. The agent then fired five shots at Allen with his service pistol, but did not strike him.

According to the Justice Department, Allen fell to the ground and was restrained by law enforcement with a minor injury to the knee.

Allen's case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Donald Trump appointee, who scheduled an arraignment for May 11 for Allen's initial plea.

"Today's indictment underscores a simple truth: there is evidence this defendant intended to assassinate the president, and that he shot a U.S. Secret Service agent after he traversed the country with a cache of ammunition to accomplish his goals," U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said in a statement. "The use of violence to register dissent is anti-democratic at its core. We will pursue the maximum punishment available under the law against anyone who travels to the District of Columbia to engage in such acts."

At a press conference on April 27 after Cole's initial appearance, Pirro drew a through line between several instances of political violence — the Capital Jewish Museum shooting suspect Elias Rodriguez and the National Guard shooting suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal — where the defendant traveled across state lines to carry out their attacks.

"Let this be a message to anyone who thinks that Washington, D.C., is the place to act out political violence: If you are willing to do so with a firearm and cross state lines, we will find you," Pirro said.

The annual correspondents' dinner, held at the Washington Hilton hotel near Dupont Circle, had just begun when Allen stormed the security checkpoints in the hotel lobby around 8:30 p.m., armed with a 12-gauge pump action shotgun, a .38-caliber handgun, two knives, four daggers, pliers and wire cutters.

According to prosecutors, Allen had approximately 45 rounds of shotgun ammo and approximately 55 rounds of handgun ammo.

Secret Service agents apprehended Allen around five minutes later after exchanging gunfire when he stormed through a magnetometer checkpoint on the floor above the event near a stairwell leading to the ballroom.

The incident forced the event's early shutdown and the immediate evacuation of top officials — cutting short a performance by mentalist Oz Pearlman in a role comedians have historically filled at the event — including President Trump, Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche vowed in the statement that "violent political actors" will never win and the Justice Department would prosecute any such defendants to the fullest extent of the law.

FBI Director Kash Patel credited the FBI Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department's investigation that determined enough evidence to bring the additional assault charge and said the FBI had worked "24/7 on this case since the night of the attack."

Tuesday's indictment comes a day after U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui expressed concern Monday regarding Allen's placement on suicide watch by the D.C. Department of Corrections, which required his confinement in a padded cell under conditions akin to solitary confinement.

Faruqui ordered the Department of Corrections to lift those conditions — apologizing to Allen because the placement appeared to be solely based on the high-profile nature of his case — provide the defendant a Bible and inform the court when a final housing decision was due.

In a minute order following Tuesday's indictment, Faruqui indicated Allen had received the requested Bible, and the Board of Correction was set to make a housing determination on Wednesday.