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The man accused of opening fire at the venue of a Washington dinner attended by Donald Trump was charged on Monday with attempting to assassinate the U.S. president and could face life in prison if convicted.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, wore a blue jail-issue V-neck shirt and pants at his first appearance in Washington federal court, two days after authorities said he launched an unsuccessful attack at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, an annual black-tie gathering of journalists and politicians, Reuters reported.
"He attempted to assassinate the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump," prosecutor Jocelyn Ballantine said.
The incident is the latest in a pattern of political violence in the United States. Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead at a rally last September, months after a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband were killed. Trump himself was the target of two assassination attempts in the 2024 presidential campaign.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters after the hearing that investigators believe Allen targeted Trump in part because he appeared to refer to the president as a "traitor" and called him other epithets in an email he sent to relatives the night of the incident.
"Violence has no place in civil life," Blanche told reporters. "It cannot and will not be used to disrupt democratic institutions, and it certainly cannot continue to be used against the president of the United States."
Allen, of Torrance, California, also faces charges of illegally transporting a firearm across state lines and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Ballantine said Allen brought a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and three knives to Washington, while a court filing also said he was armed with a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38 caliber semi-automatic handgun.
Blanche said authorities recovered a spent shell casing inside the shotgun in a sign it had been fired.
Allen did not respond to the allegations at the brief hearing. He said he had a master's degree in computer science. Defense lawyer Tezira Abe said at the hearing that Allen had no prior arrests or convictions, according to Reuters.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh ordered Allen held in custody until at least Thursday, when he is due to return to court for a hearing to consider whether he should be held in jail until trial.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington, told reporters that additional charges would be brought against Allen.
U.S. President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and other senior officials were rushed out of the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington by Secret Service agents on Saturday night after a man opened fire on security personnel nearby.
The man fired a shotgun at a Secret Service agent at a checkpoint in the Washington Hilton hotel before being tackled and arrested, Reuters reported.
Trump told reporters at a briefing at the White House later that the officer was saved by his bulletproof vest and was in "good shape."