Cole Thomas Allen he showed his displeasure President Donald Trump in a letter left to his family before he opened fire outside the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
“I get angry thinking about everything these administrations have done,” the 31-year-old wrote, according to NBC News, adding that “administration officials” were his targets.
It appears that Allen was prioritizing members of the administration from “the highest levels to the lowest.” NBC News reported that Allen was “not including” the FBI Director Kash Patel on his target list.
Allen apparently sent his note to family members, as well as colleagues, students, bystanders and others, about 10 minutes before the attack on Saturday, April 25. Allen’s brother reportedly contacted the New London Police Department in Connecticut two hours after the shooting.
The police department confirmed that it had heard from “a person who expressed concern about an incident that occurred at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner earlier this evening,” according to NBC News. The person holding the call spoke with the management.
“I don’t expect forgiveness,” Allen wrote. “And, I’m so sorry.”
Shots were fired during the annual event on Saturday as White House officials and reporters joined President Trump at the ballroom inside the Washington Hilton. A member of the secret service was shot, although he was saved by a bulletproof vest, and other attendees were quickly evacuated.
Allen was taken into federal custody near the event. He was allegedly armed with a handgun, a shotgun and knives, according to authorities.
Erika Kirk was present when the shots were fired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. CNN reported that Kirk, 37, was seen crying as the chaos continued at the Washington Hilton in Washington DC on Saturday, April 25. CNN’s Sara Sidner said on the air that she personally saw Kirk leaving the ballroom, telling his assistants. […]
Trump, 79, spoke to reporters on Saturday following the incident, praising his wife, Melania Trumpto stay calm.
“I want to thank the first lady, that was a painful thing for her,” he said. “We’re not going to let anyone take over our community, we’re not going to withdraw things … we’re not going to do that. We wanted to stay tonight, I fought hard to say, but it was a process … there was a lot going on.”
The president appeared on the Sunday, April 26, episode of 60 Minutes for a lengthy discussion about the recession.
“I wanted to see what happened, and I wasn’t making it that easy [the shooter]. I wanted to see what was going on,” he said. “And at that point, we started to realize that maybe it was a bad problem, a different kind of problem, bad, and different than the normal noise from the ballroom, which you hear all the time. I was surrounded by great people and maybe I got them to step up a little bit. I said, ‘Wait a minute, let me see.'”
Allen is scheduled to appear in federal court on Monday, April 27.
