Federal prosecutors on Wednesday released a haunting selfie snapped by Cole Allen, the suspect accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump at Saturday’s White House Correspondents Dinner in the nation’s capital.
The 31-year-old Allen of Torrance, California, is seen smirking while packing knives, guns and extra ammunition strapped to his body.
In a 20-page motion seeking pretrial detention, prosecutors noted: “At approximately 8:03 p.m., while back inside his hotel room, the defendant used his cellphone to take a photograph of himself in the mirror.”
“In the photograph,” they stated, “the defendant was wearing a black dress shirt, black slacks, and what appears to be a red necktie, tucked into his pants. An enhanced version of the image (below right) shows that the defendant also appeared to be wearing a small leather bag consistent in appearance with the ammunition-filled bag later recovered from his person (item 1), a shoulder holster (item 2), a sheathed knife consistent in appearance with one of the knives later recovered from his person (item 3), and pliers and wire cutters consistent in appearance with those later recovered from his person (item 4).”
Officials then provided more details about Allen’s actions immediately before gunfire erupted outside the ballroom of the Washington Hilton.
“About ten minutes later, at approximately 8:13 p.m., the defendant again visited the ‘Presidential Schedule – CivicTracker’ webpage again. Approximately two minutes later, he exited his hotel room.
“At about 8:27 p.m., just minutes before the attack, the defendant used his cellphone to visit a media company’s website and accessed the video, ‘WATCH LIVE: President Trump, first lady en route to White House Correspondents’ Dinner.’ He also visited another website to view live media coverage of the President exiting his vehicle to attend the Dinner.
“Less than one minute later, the defendant searched ‘trump white house correspondents dinner’ on a web search engine. The defendant’s prescheduled emails with the ‘Apology and Explanation’ attachment were sent a few minutes later, at approximately 8:30 p.m. Shortly thereafter, the defendant rushed the screening checkpoint on the Terrace Level of the Washington Hilton with a raised shotgun.”
Regarding the actual gunfire, prosecutors explained Allen “held a shotgun in both hands in a raised position parallel to the ground. A USSS officer observed the defendant fire the shotgun in the direction of the stairs leading down to the ballroom. The USSS officer and others at the checkpoint heard the gunshot. The USSS officer drew his service weapon and fired five times at the defendant. The defendant fell to the ground, was restrained by law enforcement, and was placed under arrest. The defendant suffered a minor injury to his knee but was not shot.”
“At the time of his arrest, the defendant was in possession of a Mossberg 12-gauge pump-action shotgun with one spent cartridge in the barrel and eight unfired cartridges in the magazine tube. An additional six unfired cartridges were attached with Velcro to the shotgun in a detachable ammunition carrier, and the defendant possessed another ten unfired cartridges in a small leather bag. The defendant was also in possession of a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38 caliber pistol loaded with ten rounds of ammunition.
“He also had two additional handgun magazines, each containing nine rounds of ammunition. California and federal database records confirm that the defendant legally purchased the two weapons from separate firearms dealers in California, buying the shotgun on or about August 17, 2025, and the pistol on or about October 6, 2023. At the time of his arrest, the defendant also had on his person two knives, four daggers, multiple sheaths, multiple holsters, needle nose pliers, wire cutters, and a Samsung cellphone.”
During Allen’s cross-country train trip from California to Washington, D.C., prosecutors say Allen actually “kept a running note on his phone note of his observations and thoughts” regarding the natural beauty of American scenery he was viewing.
“He wrote that ‘[t]he southwest desert in spring Distant wind turbines looming like snowy mountains across the hazy NM desert,’ that ‘Chicago is cool; kinda like an Iowa small town was scaled up to LA size,’ and that Pennsylvania’s ‘woods are awesome (look like vast fairy lands filled with tiny trickling creeks in spring apparently.”’
Allen booked his room weeks in advance of the media gala, and he now faces a potential life sentence along with a mandatory minimum of 10 years consecutive if convicted.
See the full motion and all photos released here.
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