Torrance Man Faces Hearing in Connection with Incident at Correspondents’ Dinner
Torrance Man Charged with Attempted Assassination of President Trump
Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old resident of Torrance, California, faces multiple charges, including the attempted assassination of President Trump following a violent incident at the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Allen is scheduled to appear in court Thursday for a detention hearing.
Federal authorities assert that Allen opened fire near a security checkpoint located above the dinner ballroom. He was arrested shortly after running past the checkpoint, allegedly armed with a Mossberg 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, knives, and ammunition. The Department of Justice revealed that Allen had registered as a guest at the hotel, and they released photographs taken in his room shortly before the attack.
Allen has several connections to Southern California, having attended Pacific Lutheran High School in Gardena and the prestigious California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Following a search of his parents’ home in Los Angeles, authorities discovered items that included two long gun bags, a Mossberg butt stock, a pistol holster, and shotgun ammunition.
According to a recent court filing from the DOJ, evidence from the night of the attack shows that around 8 p.m., Allen took photos of himself in his hotel room while dressed in black with a red necktie. In these images, he was seen with a small leather bag, a shoulder holster, and knives, as well as monitoring media coverage of President Trump’s movements prior to the assault.
Minutes after capturing those images, Allen confronted security personnel on the hotel’s Terrace Level, just above the ballroom where high-ranking Trump officials and journalists were gathered. The DOJ filing states that he discarded a long black coat that had concealed his shotgun and opened fire as he sprinted toward the ballroom.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones emphasized the gravity of the situation, stating, "Had the defendant achieved his intended outcome, he would have brought about one of the darkest days in American history."
Allen has been charged with attempting to assassinate the President, transporting firearms and ammunition for a felony, and discharging a firearm during a violent crime. He was apprehended after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement. A U.S. Secret Service officer was injured in the altercation but was not gravely harmed.
Court documents detail the events leading up to the incident, highlighting that Allen had traveled from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., arriving on April 24 and checking into the hotel. In a disturbing note sent to family minutes before the attack, he expressed apologies and stated, "I don’t expect forgiveness," while criticizing security measures related to the President.
Following the incident, Allen’s educational background was scrutinized, revealing that he graduated from Caltech in 2017 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He recently earned a master’s degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills in May 2025.
In light of the situation, C2 Education, where Allen worked part-time after his engineering career, expressed shock and condemned the violence. The school reiterated its commitment to fostering a safe environment for its community, acknowledging the severe implications of the event on both local and national levels.
