Alleged gunman Cole Allen sent a “manifesto” detailing his intent to target Trump administration officials before opening fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, highlighting the security failures at the event in a document that appears to have been penned right before the attack.
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❓ WHAT HAPPENED: The gunman identified as Cole Allen sent an anti-Trump manifesto to his family shortly before opening fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. He expressed his intent to target Trump administration officials, accusing them of crimes and calling himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin.”
📺 DETAIL: In his manifesto, Allen outlined his grievances against the Trump administration, labeling its officials as criminals and justifying his actions as a form of resistance. He criticized the event’s security, mocking its “insane” lack of preparation and claiming it would have been easy for Iranian agents to infiltrate. Allen was reportedly part of a radical-left group and had attended “No Kings” protests in the recent past.
💬 KEY QUOTES: “Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes.” – Cole Allen, from his manifesto. “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” Allen wrote. “Like, the one thing that I immediately noticed walking into the hotel is the sense of arrogance. I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat,” he wrote. “The security at the event is all outside, focused on protestors and current arrivals, because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before. Like, this level of incompetence is insane, and I very sincerely hope it’s corrected by the time this country gets actually competent leadership again. Like, if I was an Iranian agent, instead of an American citizen, I could have brought a damn Ma Deuce in here and no one would have noticed shit. Actually insane.”
📺 CONTEXT: The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has historically been a high-security event, often attended by sitting presidents and key officials, making this breach particularly alarming. Susan Crabtree of RealClearPolitics wrote: “A source familiar with presidential security protocals said White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles oversees the Secret Service and has let Curran remain in his job despite numerous failures on his watch.”
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Is this the "Wide Awakes" group Cole Allen was a part of? https://t.co/gzPCKh3RIU pic.twitter.com/sW31DGtztE
— Raheem J. Kassam (@RaheemKassam) April 26, 2026
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