Newly released images show the suspect in the White House Correspondents' dinner shooting taking selfies with weapons in his hotel room moments before the attack, according to a federal memorandum filed by prosecutors.
The photos, submitted as part of a motion to keep 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen detained pending trial, depict him posing in front of a mirror with a sheathed knife, ammunition, and multiple firearms strapped to his body. Allen faces charges including attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors allege that on the evening of April 25, Allen took the selfies at approximately 8:03 p.m. EST while wearing dress clothes, a shoulder holster, pliers, and wire cutters—items later recovered by authorities. Over the next half hour, he reportedly checked websites for live coverage of the dinner and the president's attendance before heading downstairs toward the ballroom.
Witnesses say Allen discarded a long black coat concealing a pump-action shotgun and rushed a security checkpoint in the Washington Hilton's Terrace Level, raising the shotgun as he sprinted through a metal detector. The attack prompted Secret Service agents to evacuate Trump, Vice President JD Vance, cabinet members, and other officials from the ballroom. One agent was shot but sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
In addition to the images, the memo details a note on Allen's phone containing observations from his cross-country journey from Torrance, California, to Washington, D.C., describing landscapes like "the southwest desert in spring" and "distant wind turbines." Prosecutors argue that Allen's actions were "premeditated, violent, and calculated to cause death," and that no conditions could ensure public safety if he were released.
Allen also faces charges of interstate transportation of a firearm to commit a felony and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, each carrying a maximum 10-year sentence. If convicted of attempted assassination, he could face life in prison.
Officials have reported that Allen left California on April 21, traveling by train to Chicago before arriving in Washington. An earlier affidavit revealed that he sent an email to his family shortly before the attack, stating that "Administration officials... are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest."