New elements emerged on Sunday, April 26, “strengthening the conviction” of authorities that the shooter who stormed a White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington on Saturday was “motivated politically,” according to The Washington Post. The American newspaper reported that investigators rely on “interviews with the assailant’s relatives” and “personal writings” discovered after the shooting at the 31-year-old suspect’s home in Torrance, California, and his hotel room in Washington.
Preliminary information suggests to investigators that the man “targeted members of the Trump administration,” said interim Justice Minister Todd Blanche to CBS.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the suspected shooter, Cole Tomas Allen, “who caused panic in Washington by exchanging gunfire with security forces outside the press gala on Saturday night, took a long journey [by train] from southern California [to Washington] and drafted a ‘manifesto’ threatening Trump administration officials before the attack.”
In a note transmitted to the New York Times by two law enforcement officials, the suspect, who presents himself “as a citizen of the United States,” believes that the actions of his country’s representatives “reflect” him. The text “seems to suggest that he is angry with the actions of the Trump administration,” noted the American newspaper.
The author specifically mentioned allegations of sexual misconduct, stating that he is “no longer willing” to “let evil stain [his] hands with crimes,” an apparent reference to President Trump, though his name is not mentioned in the writings. The text also implies that “administration officials were among the main targets.”
The document’s author appears to refer to the policies of the Trump administration, mentioning “mistreatment in migrant detention centers,” “recent deadly attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific,” and “the bombing of a primary school in Iran.” “Turning the other cheek when someone else is being oppressed is not a Christian behavior,” the text emphasized. “It is to become an accomplice of the oppressor.”
“This man is sick. When you read his manifesto, you see that he hates Christians,” said President Donald Trump to Fox News earlier Sunday, before the Times’ information was published.
The suspect is scheduled to appear in federal court in Washington on Monday. He is expected to be charged with two counts: one for using a firearm in a violent crime, and the other for assaulting a federal agent with a dangerous weapon. According to police, the shooter carried two firearms and numerous knives. A law enforcement officer was shot but was protected by his bulletproof vest.
The Wall Street Journal remarked that “since Sunday, this spectacular incident has raised questions across the country, from the Capitol to southern California, about the reasons that turned this brilliant mechanical engineer and computer scientist into the prime suspect of this highly publicized attack.”
At the esteemed California Institute of Technology, where the admission rate is 3%, Allen, who graduated in 2017, “was part of an elite student body, known for its mathematical and scientific skills.”
He worked as a tutor at a private tutoring company that prepares students for university entrance exams, reported a California affiliate of ABC. He was named “teacher of the month” in December 2024.
Sheila Murthy, a Caltech classmate, told the Wall Street Journal that Allen was a student “rather reserved, calm, and somewhat introverted,” but pleasant. “I am shocked,” she told the journal.
