Washington: A manifesto allegedly written by the suspected correspondents’ dinner gunman in the minutes before his rampage suggests he was targeting a broad range of Trump administration officials and referred to himself as the “Friendly Federal Assassin”.
Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old man from California, is due to appear in court on Monday (US time) after he allegedly charged through security armed with a handgun and a 12-gauge shotgun, injuring a Secret Service agent, at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night.
President Donald Trump confirmed the manifesto’s existence, and said it showed the suspect was a “sick” and “very troubled guy” who hated Christians.
“He had a lot of hatred in his heart for quite a while,” Trump told Fox News. “His family knew that he had difficulty … maybe they should have reported him a little bit more strongly, probably, but it’s a hard thing to do, I guess.”
Allen allegedly sent the document to family members moments before the attack. They contacted police in New London, Connecticut, and were interviewed.
The New York Post published a copy of the alleged manifesto, which outlined the shooter’s targets, as well as those he was not targeting. In a postscript, he also expressed surprise at what he described as a lack of proper security at the hotel.
According to the document obtained by the Post, Allen’s targets were administration officials “prioritised from highest-ranking to lowest”, and explicitly excluding FBI director Kash Patel.
Law enforcement and hotel security were not to be targets unless necessary, the shooter allegedly wrote, while guests and employees were “not targets at all”. But he added that he would “go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary”.
In a section explaining why he sought to kill, Allen allegedly wrote: “I am a citizen of the United States of America. What my representatives do reflects on me. And I am no longer willing to permit a paedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
This masthead has not independently verified the authenticity of the alleged manifesto published by the Post. The White House and Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment.
But Trump confirmed the document’s authenticity when he appeared on 60 Minutes on Sunday (US time), in an interview that was taped during the day and aired in prime-time.
He said he had read it, and became hostile when interviewer Norah O’Donnell quoted the part in which Allen allegedly said he would no longer tolerate a “rapist and paedophile”.
“I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would,” Trump said. “Because you’re horrible people … He did write that. I’m not a rapist, I didn’t rape anybody.”
O’Donnell asked: “Oh, you think he was referring to you?” Trump continued: “Excuse me. I’m not a paedophile. You read that crap from some sick person?”
The president complained that he had been wrongly associated with the Jeffrey Epstein saga even though it was predominantly Democrats who were friends with Epstein.
“You should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things. You shouldn’t be reading that on 60 Minutes, you’re a disgrace,” Trump said.
It was not immediately clear whether Allen’s family notified police about the alleged manifesto before or after the shooting at the Hilton hotel occurred.
The White House indicated local police in Connecticut were told in the minutes before the shooting, but the New London Police Department said in a statement that contact was first made at 10.49pm – two hours later.
Investigators were still piecing together how and why the 31-year-old allegedly decided to target top Trump administration officials on the night in question.
The Associated Press reported that Allen legally purchased a semiautomatic pistol in October 2023 and a 12-gauge shotgun last year, citing law enforcement sources.
Social media posts appearing to match Allen showed he was a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2017 from the California Institute of Technology.
A LinkedIn page matching his name and appearance shows that he posted a photo last year in a cap and gown, where he indicated he obtained a master’s degree in computer science.
It is believed to he travelled by train from California to Chicago and then onto Washington, where he checked himself into the hotel as a guest days before the gala dinner.
Amid criticism of lax security at the venue, and moments of confusion while Trump and other senior officials were ushered out of the ballroom, Trump praised the Secret Service and Washington police.
“They were outstanding. They stopped him cold,” Trump said. “I thought Secret Service and law enforcement – that includes DC police – was great.”
Trump used the Fox News appearance to say the incident showed the need for his White House ballroom – the 1000-capacity venue he has commissioned on the site of the former East Wing.
“Presidents have wanted it for 150 years just because they wanted a big space. But military and Secret Service have wanted it for many years,” he said. “Now everyone knows how badly needed it is.”
Security concerns briefly put a question mark over the imminent state visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla, who are due to arrive in Washington on Monday (US time). But Buckingham Palace confirmed the trip would proceed following discussions by both sides.
Trump also maintained the White House Correspondents’ Dinner – an annual night of nights for Washington’s media and political elite – would be rescheduled within about 30 days.
“We can’t let these criminals and these really bad people change the course of events in our country,” he said on Fox.
White House Correspondents’ Association president Weijia Jiang said the organisation’s board would meet to decide how to proceed. She expressed its gratitude to the Secret Service and all law enforcement personnel.
“Our dinner exists to celebrate the First Amendment and the hard daily work of the journalists who defend it,” Jiang said.
“Last night, those journalists showed exactly the kind of calm and courage that work demands, jumping into reporting immediately after the incident unfolded. We are proud of everyone in that room.”
With AP
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