Virtual follow-up to the Correspondents' Association dinner, a train trip from coast to coast with a shotgun and a pistol in the luggage, a selfie in front of the heavily armed mirror and apology emails to family and friends. Court documents revealed on April 29 allow us to reconstruct the planning of Cole Tomas Allen in his frustrated attempt to attack President Donald Trump and several of his officials.

First modification: 04/30/2026 - 01:48 Last modification: 05/02/2026 - 06:09

Black shirt, red tie, a pistol holster on his shoulder, knives sheathed on his belt, a bag with ammunition and a cell phone to capture in the mirror what was not a smile, but rather an arched eyebrow in a sign of resignation rather than resolution in the face of the self-imposed task.

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The court documents presented by the Prosecutor's Office in its indictment against Cole Tomas Allen, the man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump during the Correspondents' Association dinner at the Washington Hilton hotel, show that he took a photo in front of the mirror in his room half an hour before putting his plan into action.

The file allows us to reconstruct the steps of the California school tutor, from when he began to plan his failed attempt until his arrest before reaching the room where the banquet was being held.

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Weeks of planning

The Prosecutor's Office assures that Allen began to devise his plan weeks in advance, based on the reviews he made on the Internet about the event, which Trump was attending for the first time, after having avoided it during the four years of his first term and the first of the second term.

The tycoon confirmed his attendance on March 2 and Allen's digital records show that on April 6 he visited the official event page. Two hours after that internet search, he made a reservation for two nights at the hotel, arriving the day before dinner and leaving the next day.

In this way, he ensured that he could be inside the Washington Hilton, where access would be restricted to anyone who was not a guest or guest of the event.

Read alsoWhat we know about the shooting that interrupted the correspondents' dinner with Trump

From coast to coast armed to the teeth

The next step was an incredible coast-to-coast train journey that took almost three days, with a transfer in Chicago, which has raised concerns about rail transportation safety.

Allen used the train precisely to evade airport controls and was able to do so with a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun, a .38-caliber Rock Island Armory pistol, ammunition, two knives and four daggers.

Now, the national passenger transportation company Amtrak is actively collaborating with the investigations, trying to determine how it was possible for the man to cross the entire country without his lethal cargo being detected.

The company requires that firearms be declared, transported in hard cases and secured in a baggage car to which only employees have access.

However, unlike airplanes, passengers do not go through security checks or metal detectors, and not all trains have a weapons compartment.

In these cases, the cases are secured in bags closed with zip ties and labeled so that workers can check if they have been tampered with.

At this time, it is unknown if Allen was forced to follow that protocol during his almost three days crossing the country.

Read alsoSuspect charged with attempting to assassinate Trump after shooting in Washington

“Sacrifice the majority” if it was “absolutely necessary”

Half an hour before the frustrated attack, Allen scheduled a series of emails for his family and friends, which would be sent, in theory, once he had completed his mission.

They included an attachment titled “Apology and Explanation,” in which text he apologized to people who were affected by his actions, including hotel employees, and made it clear that his targets were all senior Trump Administration officials he could eliminate.

It included, of course, the president himself, explaining that he was not “willing to allow a pedophile, rapist and traitor” to continue committing “crimes.”

Curiously, he excluded FBI Director Kash Patel from his sights, for reasons he did not explain in his emails, and the guests of the gala, although he did not rule out "sacrificing the majority of people" if it was "absolutely necessary."

It was justified by saying that, in any case, these people "chose to attend" to hear Trump's speech.

Read alsoDepartment of Justice offers details about suspect in shooting at press dinner

The decisive moment

Court documents show Allen made extensive online checks to track President Trump's movements en route to the Washington Hilton hotel.

Half an hour before the attack, he scheduled his emails and at 8:03 minutes he took a selfie in front of the mirror in his room.

Then he put his not very thorough plan into action. He ran at full speed to bypass the security arch, looking for the stairs that led to the ballroom where the banquet was being held.

Along the way he fired his shotgun, causing members of the Secret Service to activate their weapons five times, without wounding Allen, who was quickly subdued before reaching his goal.

The Prosecutor's Office presented the reconstruction before the federal Court of the District of Columbia, to support its argument that Allen should remain in preventive detention, without the possibility of bail, while a date is set for the start of the trial.

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"He intended to kill and fired his shotgun while attempting to evade security and attack his target. Simply put, the defendant poses an unusually grave danger to the community if he is released pending trial," Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones argued in his brief.

The accuser added that “the defendant's lack of criminal history and other personal circumstances do not alter this conclusion.”

The hearing to decide whether or not Allen will wait for trial in prison is scheduled for April 30. His attorneys complained Wednesday that they were not allowed access to him privately, but rather seated “in an open lobby with jail staff and other nearby attorneys who could hear the entire portion of the conversation.”

Read also Who is Cole Allen?: the professor accused of shooting at a journalists' dinner with Trump

With EFE and AP

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