Man charged with trying to kill Trump took hotel room selfie before rushing gala, investigators say

The man charged with trying to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and kill President Donald Trump took a picture of himself in his hotel room just minutes earlier, outfitted with an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife, authorities said Wednesday in a new court filing.

Cole Allen wore black pants, a black shirt and a red tie as he snapped the image in his room at the Washington Hilton, where Trump and hundreds of journalists were meeting for a gala Saturday night, authorities say.

The 31-year-old from Torrance, California, was captured when he tried to race past security barricades near the hotel's ballroom, prompting an exchange of gunfire with Secret Service agents tasked with safeguarding the event, investigators say.

New details emerged in a court filing made by prosecutors who want Allen to remain in custody. A hearing is set for Thursday.

The government said Allen repeatedly made online checks to keep track of Trump’s status that night, including live coverage of the president exiting his vehicle at the Hilton hotel. Investigators said preset emails with an “Apology and Explanation” attachment were sent at approximately 8:30 p.m.

“He intended to kill and fired his shotgun while trying to breach security and attack his target. Put simply, the defendant poses an uncommonly serious danger to the community if released pending trial. The defendant’s lack of criminal history and other personal circumstances do not alter this conclusion,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones wrote.

Trump, a Republican, was uninjured. A Secret Service officer wearing a bullet-resistant vest was shot in the vest and survived.

Allen appeared in court on Monday and was charged with the attempted assassination of the president as authorities suggested an attack that disrupted one of Washington’s glitziest events had been planned for at least several weeks. Tezira Abe, a member of the defense team, said he “is presumed innocent at this time.”

Meanwhile, ahead of the Thursday hearing, a magistrate judge ordered a District of Columbia jail to allow Allen to have unrestricted visits with his lawyers. The attorneys complained that they hadn't been able to meet him privately.

“Mr. Allen was forced to sit inside of a locked cage in full, five-point restraints, and speak over a phone — of which there is only one — to be able to confer with counsel,” Abe and co-counsel Eugene Ohm said in a court filing. “Counsel were forced to sit in an open lobby area with jail staff and other attorneys standing nearby who could overhear the entirety of counsel’s side of the conversation.”

An FBI affidavit filed Monday revealed other details about the planning behind the hotel assault, with authorities alleging that Allen on April 6 reserved a room for himself at the Hilton where the event would be held weeks later under its typical tight security. He traveled by train cross-country from California, checking himself into the hotel a day before the dinner with a room reserved for the weekend.

Trump was rushed off the stage by his security team Saturday night and appeared at the White House two hours later, still in his tuxedo.

“When you’re impactful, they go after you. When you’re not impactful, they leave you alone,” the president said. “They seem to think he was a lone wolf.”