Cole Allen, the suspect charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, took a chilling selfie before carrying out his thwarted attack.
Prosecutors released the selfie, showing Allen looking into a mirror wearing all black slacks and dress shirt with a red tie. The selfie captured the weapons strapped on him, including guns and several knives.
In a motion seeking pretrial detention, prosecutors walked through the timing of the selfie and subsequent attack.
“At approximately 8:03 p.m., while back inside his hotel room, the defendant used his cellphone to take a photograph of himself in the mirror,” the motion states, providing the image and pointing out that he also appeared to be carrying ammunition.
It further explains:
An enhanced version of the image (below right) shows that the defendant also appeared to be wearing a small leather bag consistent in appearance with the ammunition filled bag later recovered from his person (item 1), a shoulder holster (item 2), a sheathed knife consistent in appearance with one of the knives later recovered from his person (item 3), and pliers and wire cutters consistent in appearance with those later recovered from his person (item 4).
He took that selfie roughly 30 minutes before the assassination attempt, at which time the Secret Service “engaged and stopped the defendant—who was armed with a 12-gauge pump action shotgun, a .38 caliber pistol, multiple knives and daggers, and a significant amount of ammunition for reloading— as he sprinted toward the doors of the Washington Hilton ballroom hosting attendees at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner…” prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors also pointed to the manifesto, explaining that Allen allegedly penned emails explaining his intentions and “scheduled those emails to be sent to specific people at approximately 8:30 p.m.” – right before Secret Service engaged with him.
In those messages he made clear his disdain for President Trump and outlined his plan to murder Trump administration officials, with an exception for FBI Director Kash Patel. However, he also stated that he would go through “most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary,” calling Trump a “pedophile, rapist, and traitor” and deeming attendees “complicit” by listening to him speak.
RELATED – Trump Rushed from White House Correspondents’ Dinner After Reported Shooting
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt bashed the establishment media and leftist politicians for their continued hateful rhetoric, asserting that what Allen allegedly wrote in his manifesto parallels that rhetoric.
“Nobody in recent years has faced more bullets and more violence than President Trump. This political violence stems from a systemic demonization of him and his supporters by commentators; yes, by elected members of the Democrat party; and even some in the media,” Leavitt said.
“Those who constantly falsely label and slander the President as a fascist, as a threat to democracy, and compare him to Hitler to score political points are fueling this kind of violence,” she added.
WATCH: Karoline Leavitt Lists Violent Rhetoric from Leftist Officials
