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Washington — Cole Allen, the man charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, allegedly purchased the firearms used in the attack in 2023 and 2025, and traveled by train from the West Coast to Washington, according to newly unsealed court filings.
The filings — a criminal complaint charging Allen with three offenses, and a seven-page affidavit by an FBI agent — were unsealed Monday after the suspected gunman appeared in federal court for an initial appearance.
He is charged with discharging a firearm during a violent crime, transporting a firearm in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony and attempting to assassinate the president.
According to the affidavit, Allen made a reservation on April 6 for three nights at the Washington Hilton, the site of the annual press gala, which brings together more than 2,500 members of the capital’s journalistic and political community. Prosecutors said Allen likely knew Mr. Trump would be at the event, since the president wrote on Truth Social in March that he had accepted an invitation to attend.
On April 21, Allen left Los Angeles by train and arrived in Chicago two days later, the FBI agent said. There, he boarded a train bound for Washington, D.C. He arrived on Friday at around 1 p.m. and checked in to the Hilton, the agent said.
The affidavit alleges that at approximately 8:40 p.m., Allen “approached and ran through the magnetometer holding a long gun,” and Secret Service personnel at the security checkpoint “heard a loud gunshot.” A Secret Service officer, identified as “Officer V.G.,” was shot once in the chest while wearing a ballistic vest. The affidavit does not say who fired the shot that hit the officer.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters that it appears law enforcement fired five shots. He declined to say whether it was a round from Allen’s gun that hit the Secret Service officer.
“We want to get that right, so we’re still looking at that,” he said.
The FBI agent said in the affidavit that Officer V.G. drew his weapon and fired “multiple times” at Allen, who “fell to the ground and suffered minor injuries.” Allen was not shot, according to the affidavit.
Footage from CBS News reporters who attended the correspondents’ dinner and a C-SPAN camera filming the event show that the initial shots were fired at about 8:34 p.m.
The filing states that when he was arrested, Allen had a 12-gauge pump action shotgun and a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38 caliber pistol. The FBI said that Allen purchased the pistol from a firearms dealer in California in October 2023 and the shotgun from a different dealer in August 2025.
The agent also wrote in the affidavit that shortly before 8:40 p.m. on Saturday, when Allen is said to have stormed the security checkpoint, a scheduled email, described by authorities as a “manifesto,” was sent to his family and a former employer explaining the attack.
Allen signed the email “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen,” according to the affidavit. The FBI agent said Allen had used the name “cold force” in multiple online accounts associated with him.
The affidavit contains the contents of a file, titled “Apology and Explanation,” that the FBI said was attached to the email Allen sent to his friends and family. Authorities said they also found writings at Allen’s home in Torrance, California, and in his hotel room on the 10th floor of the Washington Hilton. The details of those messages were not included in the court document.
Mr. Trump, Vice President JD Vance and numerous Cabinet officials and lawmakers attended the event alongside scores of journalists, media executives and other public figures in celebration of the First Amendment.
In response to the attack, the president, vice president and administration officials were whisked out of the ballroom. They were not injured. The Secret Service officer hit with gunfire has been released from the hospital.
