Suspected gunman Cole Tomas Allan sent his family a long manifesto before rushing through security to try to assassinate Donald Trump and other members of his administration at the Washington Hilton on Saturday. His last words, written not long before he left for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, have been revealed.
Cole Tomas Allan, a 31-year-old residing in the Los Angeles, California suburb of Terrence, was caught and arrested after rushing through security at the Wasington HIlton, where the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was held on Saturday.
Sources close to the investigation tell ABC News that early evidence suggests that Allen’s plan was to target as many people as possible in a mass shooting.
The shooter reportedly had three guns on him: a shotgun, a handgun, and knives. He exchanged gunfire with law enforcement before he was taken down and arrested.
On Monday, he is set to appear in court. He will be charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and a second crime of assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. However, the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro, said that “many more charges” are expected to be filed.
Many have criticized the fact that Allen was able to get past any security checkpoint. Still, on Sunday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said that “the system worked,” which kept President Donald Trump and other administration officials and guests safe from the shooting.
Suspect says he wanted to ‘shoot Trump administration officials’
“The system worked; law enforcement and the Secret Service protected all of us. The man barely got past the perimeter. And so when you have a perimeter designed to keep people safe, like President Trump, and it works – that’s something that should be applauded,” Blanche told ABC News’ This Week.
Blanche continued by saying that Cole Tomas Allen most ölikelty acted alone. The acting Attorney General was further questioned on how Allen was able to get firearms into the hotel.
Asked how the suspect may have gotten a firearm into the hotel, Blanche replied,
“It’s a good question. Listen, I’m not sure. It appears that he checked in on the 24th to the hotel, and we’re still looking at video surveillance and footage of where he walked and how he got in and how those firearms got in,” he told ABC’s This Week. “But at the end of the day, I expect we’ll have a lot more about that in the coming days.”
Sources have told ABC News that the suspect reportedly made brief statements to law enforcement officials amid his arrest. He had revealed he was focusing on shooting Trump administration officials.
Moreover, sources told the news outlet that early evidence suggests that Allen’s plan was to target as many people as possible in a mass shooting.
Suspect Cole Tomas Allen’s chilling words before the assassination attempt on Donald Trump
While many close to Donald Trump claim there was nothing wrong with security, Cole Tomas Allen appears to have thought otherwise.
In his manifesto, obtained by the NY Post. Cole Tomas Allan wrote about how poor the security was at the high-profile White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Per Tedd Blanche, Allen arrived in Washington a day or two before the event, meaning he wrote the security criticism not long before he acted.
“Like, I expected security cameras at every bend, bugged hotel rooms, armed agents every 10 feet, metal detectors out the wazoo,” Allen wrote. What I got (who knows, maybe they’re pranking me!) is nothing. No damn security. Not in transport, not in the hotel, not in the event.”
He continued, “Like, the one thing that I immediately noticed walking into the hotel is the sense of arrogance. I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat.”
“The security at the event is all outside, focused on protestors and current arrivals, because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before.”
Allen concluded, “Like, this level of incompetence is insane, and I very sincerely hope it’s corrected by the time this country gets actually competent leadership again.”
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