A 31-year-old California educator and engineer has been charged with federal crimes after authorities say he stormed a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday night, firing two shots before he was tackled to the ground by law enforcement officers.
Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, was taken into custody at the Washington Hilton, where the annual black-tie gala was underway with President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet in attendance. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Allen fired twice before being immediately subdued, adding that he barely cleared the security perimeter before officers intervened. One officer wearing a bulletproof vest was struck and transported to a hospital; Trump later said the officer was doing well. Trump was escorted off the stage; guests at the event dove under tables as gunfire rang out and armed officers flooded the ballroom.
Allen now faces two federal counts — using a firearm during a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon — with additional charges expected, according to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro. He was arraigned Monday in federal district court.
Minutes before shots were fired Saturday night, Allen sent a lengthy written message to family members. The communication, which investigators describe as over a thousand words, opened informally before shifting into apologies to family members, former students, co-workers, and bystanders he feared might be caught in violence. The document moved between confession, political grievance, and farewell. In it, Allen referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” and outlined that administration officials were his intended targets, ranked from highest to lowest in priority. The writings also contained passages justifying the attack in religious terms and a taunting critique of security at the Washington Hilton, with Allen expressing surprise that he had entered the hotel armed without detection.
Blanche said investigators believe Allen planned to target Trump administration officials — likely including the president himself — and that politically motivated violence appears to be the primary driver. Allen had attended an anti-Trump demonstration in California before traveling across the country for the attack. He made the trip by train, according to the Justice Department, going from Los Angeles to Chicago before continuing to Washington, D.C. He checked into the Washington Hilton as a guest in the days before the gala.
Allen’s brother, who lives in New London, Connecticut, contacted police there at approximately 10:49 p.m. Saturday — roughly two hours after shots were fired — after receiving the written message. Connecticut law enforcement immediately alerted federal authorities. Allen’s sister, reached by federal agents, said her brother had a history of making radical statements, had previously mentioned wanting to “do something” about issues facing the country, and had purchased firearms that he stored at their parents’ Torrance home without their knowledge. She said Allen regularly practiced at a shooting range.
Records show Allen legally purchased a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol in October 2023 and a 12-gauge shotgun in August 2025. He carried both weapons, along with multiple knives, to the security checkpoint Saturday night. The FBI executed a search warrant at the family’s Torrance home and examined a 10th-floor room Allen had reserved at the Washington Hilton.
By background, Allen was a highly educated technologist. He earned a mechanical engineering degree from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 and a master’s degree in computer science from California State University-Dominguez Hills as recently as May 2025. He was named teacher of the month in December 2024 at C2 Education, a college test preparation company where he tutored high school students. He also worked independently as a video game developer and had registered a trademark in 2019 for a chemistry-themed fighting game released on Steam. Neighbors and former students described him as quiet, polite, and highly capable.
Allen had contributed $25 to a political action committee supporting Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign — his only recorded federal political donation. His social media activity included numerous posts critical of the Trump administration, and federal investigators are treating those posts, along with the family writings and interviews, as the clearest window into his motivations.
For Upstate South Carolina, the attempted attack lands in the district of Rep. William Timmons, whose SC-4 district covers Greenville and Spartanburg. Timmons sits on the House Financial Services Committee and the Oversight Committee — panels that will be among those with standing to scrutinize both the security failures that allowed an armed man into the Washington Hilton and the broader question of politically motivated violence against federal officials. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the state’s senior senator and a member of the Judiciary Committee, has long been a voice for stringent enforcement of laws targeting attacks on federal officials. The Saturday incident will almost certainly draw the Judiciary Committee’s attention as charges proceed.
