Man accused in Trump hotel assault took knife selfie, investigators say

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Prosecutors said Cole Allen, who is charged in an alleged attempt to kill President Donald Trump at the Washington Hilton on the night of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, took a photo of himself in his hotel room shortly before rushing toward the event. In a new court filing, investigators described Allen as outfitted for a confrontation, including what prosecutors said was a knife, as well as an ammunition bag and a shoulder gun holster. Prosecutors said the photo was taken minutes earlier as Trump and hundreds of journalists gathered for the gala.

The filing said Allen was dressed in black pants and a black shirt with a red tie when he snapped the image in his room at the Hilton, where the dinner was set to take place. Investigators said the 31-year-old from Torrance, California, was later captured when he tried to race past security barricades near the hotel’s ballroom, prompting an exchange of gunfire with Secret Service agents assigned to protect the event.

Trump was uninjured during the incident, prosecutors said. They added that a Secret Service officer wearing a bullet-resistant vest was shot and survived. Allen has been charged with the attempted assassination of the president, and prosecutors have characterized the attack as disrupting one of Washington’s major media events.

Ahead of a custody hearing set for Thursday, prosecutors asked a judge to keep Allen detained. In the filing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones wrote that the defendant posed an “uncommonly serious danger to the community if released pending trial” and that Allen’s lack of criminal history and other personal circumstances did not change that conclusion.

Defense attorney Tezira Abe, appearing for Allen’s legal team, said in court proceedings that Allen “is presumed innocent at this time.” Abe and co-counsel Eugene Ohm also complained in a separate filing that Allen had not been able to confer privately with lawyers before Monday’s court appearance, describing restrictions on visits and arguing that the conditions left attorneys unable to discuss the case without being overheard.

Prosecutors also cited investigators’ account of planning tied to the Hilton and to Allen’s activities during the day of the dinner. An FBI affidavit filed Monday alleged Allen reserved a room for himself at the Hilton on April 6, and then checked in a day before the dinner while the event was still under the hotel’s typical tight security. Investigators said Allen traveled by train cross-country from California and arrived in Washington the day before the dinner.

The government said prosecutors also relied on Allen’s online activity on the night of the incident, saying he repeatedly checked to keep track of Trump’s status, including live coverage of the president exiting his vehicle at the Hilton. Prosecutors said the filing indicated that preset emails with an “Apology and Explanation” attachment were sent at about 8:30 p.m.

During Saturday night’s chaos, Trump was rushed off the stage by his security team and later appeared at the White House about two hours afterward while still in his tuxedo. In remarks reported by AP, Trump said, “When you’re impactful, they go after you. When you’re not impactful, they leave you alone,” and added that officials “seem to think he was a lone wolf.”