After publicly shunning the White House Correspondents' Dinner during his first term, President Donald Trump's return to the celebration of the First Amendment has grabbed headlines for all the wrong reasons.
As Donald Trump and other government officials gathered at the Washington Hilton, there were scenes of panic as shots were fired outside the packed ballroom. 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen has been arrested in the aftermath of the incident, where it's said he rushed a security checkpoint while armed with a shotgun, handgun, and knives. Allen exchanged gunfire with law enforcement and was then tackled to the ground.
While President Trump told 60 Minutes he wasn't afraid of what went down at 2026's White House Correspondents' Dinner, there's obvious concern about a third attempt on his life. There's also a sense of irony that the Washington Hilton is where John Hinckley Jr. shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Much like there was a fascination in Hinckley Jr.'s motive and how he tried to assassinate the president in a bizarre bid to impress Jodie Foster, there are questions about what Allen's modus operandi was.
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A supposed 'manifesto' that's been linked to the suspect has been released, reminding us of similar ones from Luigi Mangione and the recent attack on Sam Altman's home that was tied to Daniel Moreno-Gama. Already, a clearer picture of Cole Thomas Allen has started to emerge.
Who is Cole Thomas Allen?
Unlike Thomas Crooks being shot dead at the scene of Trump's Butler rally attack, Allen was tackled to the ground and quickly taken into custody. After being transported to a detention facility in southeast Washington DC, the 31-year-old is due to be arraigned in a federal court today (April 27).
As well as no reports of a previous criminal record, Allen has been described as a 'borderline genius' who used to intern at NASA. According to NBC News, Allen’s brother contacted the New London Police Department in Connecticut after he received the reported manifesto just moments before he carried out the attempted attack.
His sister also apparently told the Secret Service and Montgomery County Police that he was known to make radical statements and had mentioned a plan to do 'something' to fix issues with the world in 2026.
Allen's manifesto referred to prioritizing high-ranking officials in order of importance, presumably meaning President Trump was the main target, followed by JD Vance and others. Interestingly, he appeared to make a reference to FBI Director Kash Patel being marked as safe.
Whereas Trump has described Allen as a 'whack job' and a 'lone wolf', a different picture is emerging elsewhere. The outlet reports that Allen was a trained engineer who'd had a brief stint at NASA, was part of a Christian fellowship at a prestigious California university, and developed video games as well as working as a part-time teacher.
A former volleyball teammate told NBC News that Allen was inquisitive and intellectual, remembering him as a "borderline genius" and "super stable."
The anonymous teammate said they hadn't seen Allen in a while but added: "Other people study hard. He didn’t have to study. It would just come to him. He was really, really smart."
Saying he was interested in computers and was a great writer, they continued: "Across the board, he was really knowledgeable, really curious...
"He was probably the most gentle person on the team, which makes it even more shocking that he did this."
A scroll of LinkedIn shows that Allen graduated from the California Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2017, even speaking to ABC News about how he developed a prototype emergency brake for wheelchairs the same year.
He worked as a part-time teacher at C2 Education, which is a company that helps high school students get into college, being named "teacher of the month" in December 2024.
Allen later obtained his master’s of science degree in computer science from California State University in May 2025, with Professor Bin Tang explaining Allen was "a very good student" who always paid attention.
Tang concluded: "Soft spoken, very polite, a good fellow. I am very shocked to see the news."
More details are sure to emerge as Allen faces harsh questioning about the WHCD shooting.