Trump assassination bid at WHCD: 6 questions that remain unanswered

The scalding heat from the Epstein Files hadn’t even subsided when Donald Trump waged an unprovoked war on Iran resulting in further embarrassment.

Now, the US president’s approval ​rating has tanked to the lowest in his second term at 34 per cent due to the rising cost of living and the unpopular Iran War, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Therefore, when Cole Tomas Allen (31), from Torrance, California, reportedly fired his Mossberg Maverick 88 12-gauge pump-action shotgun at a US Secret Service (USSS) agent inside the Washington Hilton, the venue for White House Correspondents’ Dinner (WHCD) on April 25, a volley of conspiracy theories erupted.

Conspiracy theorists suggested that the shooting was staged to boost Trump’s sagging approval rating, deflect heat from the Iran War humiliation or to support the construction of his preposterous $400 million ballroom in the White House’s East Wing.

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However, there’s no evidence so far that the shooting was staged.

In a federal affidavit unsealed on April 27, a special agent with the FBI said that Allen was charged with:

1.      An attempt to assassinate the US president

2.      Transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with an intent to commit a felony and

3.      Discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

The shooting, however, has raised several questions that remain unanswered with the official account having inconsistencies.

Gunman with Arms Travelled Interstate by Train

Allen boarded a train from his home, near Los Angeles, California, to Chicago, Illinois, “on or about April 21”, according to the affidavit. He arrived in Chicago “on or about April 23” and boarded a second train that arrived in Washington, D.C., on April 24 around 1.00 pm (local time).

According to the Department of Justice (DoJ), Allen was carrying the shotgun, an Armscor Rock Island Armory 1911 .38 calibre pistol and three knives.

Allen purchased the shotgun from Turner’s Outdoorsman in Torrance last August and the pistol from CAP Tactical Firearms in Lawndale (California) in October 2023.

All this while, he was carrying the two firearms and the three knives, which means the railway stations didn’t have baggage scanners, magnetometers or metal detectors.

Amtrak, the national passenger railroad company, doesn’t perform routine, airport-style security screenings for all passengers and their baggage except for random screenings.

Strangely, US acting attorney general Todd Blanche rejected the idea that Amtrak should now install baggage scanners to prevent the transport of weapons across states.

Gunman Entered Hotel Unnoticed

Allen booked a room for three nights in the same hotel (April 24-26), according to the affidavit, on April 6. On April 24, he “checked into a specific hotel room” and remained there overnight.

Allen checked into the hotel with the firearms fully assembled or disassembled in his luggage and the three knives, meaning there were no baggage scanners, magnetometers or metal detectors there either.

In the 1,052-word manifesto he emailed to his family 10 minutes before the attack, Allen mentioned the lack of security while checking into the hotel and that Trump administration officials were his target.

“Like, the one thing that I immediately noticed walking into the hotel is the sense of arrogance,” he wrote in the postscript after signing off as “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen”.

“I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat.”

Mocking the security, Allen wrote that if he were an Iranian agent, he “could have brought a damn Ma Deuce (Browning M2 .50-calibre heavy machine gun) in here and no one would have noticed s–t”.

There is no CCTV footage of Allen walking into the hotel with his luggage.

Lax Security at WHCD Venue

Blanche termed the security failure “a massive security success story” as Allen was detained before reaching the ballroom, where Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and a few important Cabinet secretaries were seated.

The USSS protects the president, his deputy and foreign heads of state at such high-profile events. USSS director Sean Curran said that the Secret Service’s security measures at the hotel succeeded in subduing the gunman.

Usually, WHCD is not designated as a National Special Security Event (NSSE), which means it does not receive maximum federal security.

However, Trump had been the target of would-be assassins in the past. Considering the high-risk factor, the WHCD should have been designated as an NSSE.

The hotel was closed to the public at 2 pm local time on Saturday, six hours before the dinner.

However, entry tickets had only table numbers, not guest names. Therefore, attendees weren’t asked for identification and could roam around before walking through metal detectors to enter the ballroom, a level below the floor where Allen was caught.

The Daily Beast’s executive editor, Hugh Dougherty, who claimed to have been staying in a room next to Allen’s, confirmed the lax security. He noted that ID was checked only during hotel registration. Neither his ID nor his luggage was verified as he roamed inside the hotel.

Gunman Unnoticed Before Attack

Allen could have easily concealed the pistol and the knives before the attack, but not the shotgun unless he put it in a bag or disassembled it in his room and reassembled it before the attack—but where could he have done it?

Allen used an unguarded back stairwell from his room, 10 floors up, to reach the floor with the stairs leading to the ballroom, officials told CBS News.

Since there were no USSS agents or cops on the stairwell, he probably went down with a fully assembled shotgun.

In the manifesto, Allen appeared shocked at the Secret Service’s “incompetence”.

“What the hell is the Secret Service doing? Like, I expected security cameras at every bend, bugged hotel rooms, armed agents every 10 feet, metal detectors out the wazoo.”

However, what Allen “got is nothing. No damn security. Not in transport. Not in the hotel. Not in the event.”

He mentioned how the USSS was focused “on protestors and current arrivals because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before”.

“Like, this level of incompetence is insane.”

There is no CCTV footage of an armed Allen taking the stairs down to the floor above the ballroom.

Did Allen Even Fire His Shotgun?

Allen was charged with attempting to assassinate Trump—yet Blanche isn’t sure that he fired his shotgun.

Blanche told the media that “it appears” that law enforcement fired five shots and Allen one.

Therefore, six shots were fired—yet neither a USSS agent nor Allen was wounded.

The affidavit doesn’t mention whether Allen shot the agent, identified as “U.S. Secret Service Officer V.G”.

Around 8.40 pm, Allen sprinted towards a security checkpoint on the hotel’s terrace level leading to the ballroom, per the FBI.

“Allen approached and ran through the magnetometer holding a long gun. As he did so, US Secret Service personnel assigned to the checkpoint heard a loud gunshot,” the affidavit reads.

“US Secret Service Officer V.G. was shot once in the chest; Officer V.G. was wearing a ballistic vest at the time.”

The USSS agent immediately “drew his service weapon and fired multiple times at Allen, who fell to the ground and suffered minor injuries but was not shot. Allen was subsequently arrested,” according to the affidavit.

The big question is why didn’t the affidavit clearly mention Allen as the shooter who shot the officer?

Even Blanche couldn’t confirm that Allen fired his shotgun. During a press conference, Blanche wasn’t sure whether Allen fired his shotgun.

When asked whether Allen fired his shotgun and how many times and whose bullet hit the agent, Blanche replied, “We want to get that right. We are still looking at that. It appears that law enforcement fired five shots.”

Blanche refused to go into ballistics. “As far as getting into exacting ballistics, I am not going to do that today because it is still being looked at and finalised.”

During another press conference, Blanche offered a weak and weird explanation regarding Allen firing his shotgun.

When asked whether the DoJ and FBI think that Allen fired, at least, once despite the affidavit not mentioning that, Blanche said that he was charged with “discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. So, by definition, that charge means that it [shotgun] was discharged”.

Then Blanche explained how a pump-action shotgun works.

Pointing to a big printout of the shotgun, he said, “This is the gun that he discharged. What happens is when you shoot that, the casing stays inside the firearm. If you reload it [shotgun], it pops it [shell] out.”

According to Blanche, the shell was inside the forearm, “which means that it hadn’t been pulled back again”.

“I am not on the ground doing the investigation. So, I am telling you what I have been told. If that information changes, I am sure that we will let you know.”

Again, Blanche wasn’t 100 per cent sure about Allen discharging his shotgun.

CCTV Footage Contradicts Official Version

Allen appears for only four seconds in a CCTV footage posted by Trump on social media, emerging near the elevators, sprinting through a security checkpoint and reaching the stairs leading to the ballroom.

According to the official version, Allen fired his shotgun at “Officer V.G.”, who fired his handgun at him five times before the former fell, was subdued and stripped of his weapons and shirt.

However, there is no clarity about when Allen fired his shotgun—before, during or after falling.

A higher-resolution footage reviewed by The Washington Times doesn’t show Allen firing his shotgun.

As he bolts through the security checkpoint, where nine security personnel are present, Allen appears to raise his shotgun in the direction of a USSS agent to his right—but there’s no flash from the muzzle.

Within two seconds, the agent fires at him, at least, four times—four muzzle flashes are seen from the handgun. By the time the fourth shot is fired, Allen is out of the camera’s view.

Nowhere in the footage does the agent appear to have been shot.

Neither could Allen have shot the agent after moving out of the camera’s view and before tripping.

Allen was, according to the Secret Service, running at nine miles (14.48 km) an hour. He couldn’t have stopped and shot the officer, who was behind him.

What doesn’t add up is that the agent—like other USSS agents, who are good marksmen—missed hitting Allan, but was shot.

“This heroic officer, who was hit, fired five times at Allen, who was not shot but fell to the ground and was promptly arrested,” Blanche claimed.

(The writer is a freelance journalist with more than two decades of experience and comments primarily on foreign affairs. He tweets as @FightTheBigots. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.)