The alleged would-be assassin at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner hid an arsenal of weapons underneath his long black coat, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Wednesday.
The suspect, Cole Allen, took a mirror selfie of himself while wearing a bag filled with ammunition, a shoulder holster, a sheathed knife, wires and plier cutters that were all consistent with the items later recovered during his arrest, according to the DOJ. He rushed the event’s screening checkpoint about 30 minutes after the photos were taken in his hotel room.
JUST IN: Federal prosecutors release new images and details of Cole Allen and his alleged attempt to assassinate president Trump. Here is a mirror selfie he took about 30 minutes before charging past the magnetometers. https://t.co/SjBVCPQJQO pic.twitter.com/tBPnPDOQPS
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 29, 2026
Before Allen approached the checkpoint, he discarded a long black coat which concealed a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, according to the DOJ. He sprinted through one of the magnetometers at the checkpoint and ran toward a staircase leading to the ballroom where President Donald Trump, members of his family and Cabinet officials were located.
Allen opened fire with a shotgun raised parallel to the ground, according to the DOJ. An officer observed him fire the shotgun in the direction of the staircase and fired five shots at Allen.
At the time of the arrest, Allen possessed a Mossberg 12-gauge pump-action shotgun with one spent cartridge in the barrel and eight unfired cartridges in the magazine tube, according to the DOJ. He also had a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38 caliber pistol loaded with ten rounds of ammunition and two handgun magazines each containing nine rounds of ammunition.
Following Allen’s arrest, the DOJ charged Allen with attempting to assassinate a U.S. president, transporting a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. The attempted assassination charge carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
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