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Assailant Pleads Not Guilty to Attempted Assassination of President Trump

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The man accused of opening fire outside the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and trying to assassinate President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Monday to four federal felony counts that could send him to prison for life washingtonpost +1. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, entered the plea in Washington, D.C., where he is charged with attempted assassination of the president, assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon, transporting firearms across state lines with intent to commit a felony, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence cbsnews.

Allen, a California resident and Caltech-trained engineer, was shackled and wearing an orange jail uniform as a public defender told the court he “pleads not guilty to all four counts as charged” washingtonpost. He is accused of sprinting through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton on April 25, armed with a 12‑gauge shotgun, a .38‑caliber semiautomatic pistol and knives, as Trump, top officials and hundreds of journalists gathered inside the ballroom washingtonpost +1. A Secret Service officer was hit in the ballistic vest by buckshot and later released from the hospital theguardian.

What Prosecutors Say Happened Outside the Washington Hilton

Prosecutors say Allen spent weeks planning the attack, reserving a room at the Hilton nearly three weeks before the dinner, then traveling by train from California to Washington, D.C., with his weapons and gear cbsnews +1. Surveillance footage released by the FBI and Justice Department showed him casing hotel corridors the night before, then sprinting toward a security checkpoint and raising a long gun moments before shots were fired, according to court filings yahoo.

Investigators recovered a Maverick 12‑gauge shotgun, an Armscor .38 pistol, knives, a shoulder holster and an ammunition bag they say matched one found on his person, along with a spent shotgun casing washingtonpost +1. Forensic testing determined a buckshot pellet from Allen’s shotgun was embedded in the fibers of the Secret Service officer’s vest, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said, insisting “there is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire” theguardian. Prosecutors also pointed to writings and messages they described as a manifesto in which Allen allegedly discussed targeting Trump administration officials bbc. The attempted assassination charge alone carries a potential sentence of up to life in prison cbsnews.

A Not-Guilty Plea, Conflict Claims and Security Fallout

Allen’s defense team has begun mounting a two‑track response: contesting elements of the government’s account while attacking the prosecution’s handling of the case. They questioned whether publicly released video clearly shows Allen firing the shot that struck the Secret Service officer, suggesting the footage is inconclusive and raising the possibility of friendly fire people. Lawyers also complained about Allen’s initial detention in near‑solitary conditions and on suicide watch, prompting a federal magistrate judge to apologize in court and order restrictions eased cbsnews.

At Monday’s arraignment, defense attorneys signaled they would seek to disqualify Pirro and other top Justice Department officials, arguing they attended the dinner and later made public statements and social‑media posts about the evidence, creating what they say is a conflict of interest washingtonpost +1. The case has intensified scrutiny of presidential security at high‑profile, off‑site events: experts and some current and former officials have questioned how a heavily armed man was able to get so close to the ballroom entrance, and whether checkpoint placement and staffing at the Washington Hilton left gaps in protection whio. The incident has already prompted internal reviews as the Secret Service prepares for a packed calendar of rallies and major public events.

The Bigger Picture

The not‑guilty plea ensured that one of the most serious alleged attacks on a sitting president in decades will now move into a prolonged legal battle, with the next hearing scheduled for late June washingtonpost. Beyond Allen’s fate, the case is likely to shape debates over how transparently prosecutors should share evidence in politically charged investigations, how to balance access and security at marquee civic events, and how to maintain public trust as conspiracy theories about staged attacks gain traction among a sizable minority of Americans nypost.