WASHINGTON: The suspect in the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is set to face federal charges on Monday (today), as President Donald Trump said the attack would not deter him from “winning war in Iran”.
US Secret Service agents bundled Donald Trump from the stage as shots rang out Saturday at a media gala, in what the president later described as an attack by a “would-be assassin.”
Armed guards opened fire at the gunman who charged through a security checkpoint just outside the ballroom of the hotel where Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, senior government officials and hundreds of other black-tie guests had gathered.
People dived under tables in chaotic scenes as Secret Service teams swarmed into the glitzy White House Correspondents’ Association dinner held annually at the Washington Hilton in the US capital.
Trump posted surveillance camera footage of the gunman sprinting past security as guards drew their weapons. The man was detained at the scene. “They seem to think he was a lone wolf, and I feel that too,” the president said at a news conference at the White House shortly after the incident.
Trump said one officer was shot at close range but appeared to not be critically injured. He added that the venue was “not a particularly secure” facility, as questions swirled about the president´s safety.
Trump said at the hastily arranged news conference that he first thought the noise was a tray being dropped before he realised it was gunfire. He said he planned to re-schedule the media gala within a month.
City officials said the suspect, who will be arraigned in court on Monday (today) on firearm and assault charges, appeared to have been a guest at the hotel. He was armed with a shotgun, handgun and knives.
“He’s not actively cooperating. I expect that he will be formally charged tomorrow morning in federal court in Washington,” acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche told CBS’s “Face The Nation.”
“We do believe, based upon just a very preliminary start to understanding what happened, that he was targeting members of the administration.”
Blanche added no further motive was known for the attack.
“We believe that he traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then from Chicago to Washington,” Blanche said. “It appears he purchased these firearms in the past couple years.”
“Law enforcement exchanged gunfire with the individual,” Washington police chief Jeffery Carroll told reporters.
“A US Secret Service uniformed division officer was struck in his vest. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment. He appears to be in good spirits.”
Trump told reporters that the authorities have gone to the suspect’s apartment and “I guess he lives in California.”
An AFP photographer saw FBI tactical agents entering a two-story, brown house in Torrance, California, associated with the suspect. Some FBI and Secret Service agents were spotted leaving the scene a few hours later.
Multiple US news outlets identified the suspect as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from the southwestern Los Angeles suburb.
Asked about Allen late Saturday, the FBI did not confirm his identity and told AFP it had nothing to add beyond what was disclosed in news conferences.
A LinkedIn profile with the name “Cole Allen” showed a picture of a man which appeared to match a photo of the suspect shared by Trump. The social media profile said Allen was a mechanical engineer, computer scientist, game developer and teacher.
Last year, Allen uploaded a picture wearing a graduation gown and cap, saying he was “done” with his computer science master’s degree from California State University Dominguez Hills.
During the chaotic incident, tactical teams with guns drawn took position on the stage where Trump had been sitting during dinner before he was evacuated. Police surrounded the hotel, and helicopters hovered overhead.
The security breach occurred after the welcoming speech and during dinner, before Trump was due to speak. Cabinet members were evacuated first, as confusion and concern spread through the partying guests.
Trump was the target of an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2024. A gunman fired several shots, killing an audience member and lightly wounding the president in the ear. A few months later, another man was arrested after a Secret Service agent saw the barrel of a rifle poking from the bushes on the perimeter of the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing a round.
The Washington Hilton where Saturday’s gala was taking place was the site where Republican President Ronald Reagan was shot by a would-be assassin in 1981.
The White House Correspondents’ Association invited Trump this year despite his repeated attacks on the media. Before this year and unlike all other presidents from the past 100 years, Trump had never attended while in office.
The “Nerd Prom” – as attendees dub it – brings together journalists and the who’s who of Washington to raise funds for scholarships and awards. The event often has a comedian joking about the president, who traditionally makes a few cracks of his own, though no comedian was booked this year.
Trump said the shooting at the dinner would not deter him from the Iran war, although he believed the incident was unlikely linked to the conflict.
“It’s not going to deter me from winning the war in Iran. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it, I really don’t think so, based on what we know,” Trump told reporters.
Trump had earlier said, however, that “you never know” if it could be linked to the Iran war, and said investigators were working on the motive of the shooter whom he described as a “lone wolf.”
The US leader earlier Saturday canceled his envoys’ trip to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran, after being unimpressed with Tehran’s negotiating position following nearly two months of war.
World leaders reacted to the incident with shock, mixed with relief that the US leader and event attendees were unharmed.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed support for Trump, adding that “violence has no place in a democracy” – a sentiment echoed by Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said “any attack on democratic institutions or on the freedom of the press must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “shocked by the scenes” of violence at the event and denounced the attack.
Britain’s Ambassador to the US Christian Turner said some British embassy officials were at the event and expressed appreciation for “the swift and professional response of the US Secret Service”. “We are thankful that the President and all those in attendance were unharmed & our best wishes are with the injured officer,” he wrote on social media.
Australian Prime Minister Antony Albanese applauded the US Secret Service and other law enforcement “for their swift action”. “I am pleased to hear the President and the First Lady, along with all attendees at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, are safe,” he said.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he is “relieved that the President, the First Lady, and all guests are safe”. “Political violence has no place in any democracy, and my thoughts are with all those who have been shaken by this disturbing event,” said Carney.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed relief for the safety of attendees and thanked police and responders for their “swift action”. “Violence has no place in politics, ever,” she said.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas issued a similar statement of condemnation, saying “political violence has no place in a democracy”. “An event meant to honour a free press should never become a scene of fear,” Kallas said, while wishing the injured officer a quick recovery.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who Trump has often clashed with, said, “We condemn the attack that took place… against President Donald Trump”. “Violence is never the way. Humanity will only advance through democracy, coexistence, and peace,” he said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed relief that Trump and his wife were safe. “We send them our respect,” she wrote on X. “Violence must never be the way”.
Israeli officials quickly conveyed solidarity with leaders in the US and condemned the attack.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said: “Israel stands shoulder to shoulder with the United States and Trump”. He said he condemns “in the strongest possible terms the shooting incident”. “Zero tolerance for political violence,” Sa’ar added.
President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar on Sunday strongly condemned the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents dinner in Washington DC, APP reports.
Zardari, who is currently on a five-day visit to China, in a statement, expressed relief that President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump remained safe. “This regrettable incident is a heinous form of terrorism, and it deserves the strongest possible condemnation,” the president remarked.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was “deeply shocked” by the shooting incident that took place at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, DC. “Deeply shocked by the disturbing shooting incident.
Shehbaz said he was “relieved to know that President Trump, the First Lady, and other attendees were safe. “My thoughts and prayers are with him, and I wish him continued safety and well-being,” he added.
Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar said he was deeply shocked by the cowardly shooting incident at the White House Correspondents Dinner.
In a post on X, he said, “We are relieved that President Trump, Vice President Vance and First Lady are safe. We strongly condemn all forms of violence which is enemy of diplomacy and intolerable in any civilised society. Our best wishes go out to the US President and the American people.”
President Trump said that the suspect accused of trying to attack administration officials at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner had an anti-Christian manifesto and “a lot of hatred in his heart” but was stopped well short of the hotel ballroom hosting the event.
Trump told Fox News that the suspect was “a sick guy” and that his family previously expressed concerns about him to law enforcement officials. “When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians,” Trump said on Fox News’ “Sunday Briefing” programme.
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 Assassin,” the official said.
“Turning the other cheek when someone else is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes,” the manifesto read, according to the official.
Targets listed in the manifesto included administration officials - although not FBI Director Kash Patel -- prioritised from highest-ranking to lowest, the official said. The manifesto mocked the “insane” lack of security at the Washington Hilton, where the dinner was held, the official added. “Like, the one thing that I immediately noticed walking into the hotel is the sense of arrogance,” the manifesto’s author reportedly wrote. “I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat.”
The suspect traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington, acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press” programme, adding that Trump and top members of his administration were the likely targets.
