U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced the charges she is filing against the gunman who opened fire at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner in an apparent assassination attempt against President Donald Trump.
Authorities arrested the suspect, who multiple outlets have reported to be 31-year-old Cole Allen of Torrance, California, after Trump, his wife Melania and Cabinet present members present were evacuated following gunfire. Pirro told reporters the would-be assassin is “charged with two counts,” “using a firearm during a crime of violence” and “assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.”
“Now, as you all know, there was an individual, a uniformed Secret Service officer, who was shot, and fortunately, he is doing alright and he will be fine,” Pirro added.
She added that based on the available evidence, it is clear that the suspect “was intent on doing as much harm and as much damage as he could.”
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“And thankfully, because of the checkpoint right outside the ballroom where thousands of people were situated to hear the President of the United States — because that checkpoint worked, there was no one who was injured when it was clear where this defendant was going, Pirro continued.
The U.S. Attorney and former Fox News host was, like several other Trump administration members, in attendance for the dinner which the president was slated to address for the first times during either of his White House terms.
“I, for the first time, was in a situation where there were shots fired, shots heard, and a whole room went silent. When I lifted my head and when I looked up, every law enforcement officer was out there as we all had our heads down,” Pirro said. “Thousands of them. These are the men and women every day who do what they do silently, and they do it with courage and with dignity.”
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