Man accused in WHCA dinner shooting faces new terrorism charge

This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. End of dialog window. Cole Tomas Allen, the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner earlier this year, faces an additional charge of terrorism , new court filings Thursday show. Allen allegedly ran past security, shot a Secret Service agent and attempted to enter the ballroom to shoot the president at the annual dinner in April. He originally pleaded not guilty to attempted murder of the president, assaulting an officer of the United States and two federal gun charges. The U. S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia brought the additional charge of committing an act of terrorism while armed, claiming Allen attempted to kill Trump with the intent of influencing executive branch policy and intimidating a “significant portion of the civilian population.” A California native, Allen is said to have written a manifesto prior to the assassination attempt which made clear he wished to target members of the Trump administration. His family was made aware of Allen’s plans minutes before the incident and alerted the local police, according to NBC News. Jeanine Pirro, U. S. Attorney for D. C., was in attendance at the dinner and is overseeing the prosecution of the case. Allen moved to disqualify Pirro as she is an alleged victim of the crime he is accused of committing but was unsuccessful. Allen is the latest of three gunmen charged with attempting to assassinate Trump. The first at a 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the second at a Florida golf course months later, and the third, Allen, at the annual dinner earlier this year. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Terrorism? Get real.