The gunman who opened fire outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner called himself the ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ in a chilling manifesto he wrote before the attack.
Cole Allen, 31, sent the eerie anti-Trump writing to his family members just 10 minutes before he fired shots at the hotel in Washington, where the ritzy press gala was taking place on Saturday night.
The harrowing writing was given to police by a relative, a US official said.
According to the New York Post, Allen’s manifesto read: ‘Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. I’m not the person raped in a detention camp. I’m not the fisherman executed without trial.
‘I’m not a schoolkid blown up or a child starved or a teenage girl abused by the many criminals in this administration. Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes.
‘In order to minimize casualties I will also be using buckshot rather than slugs (less penetration through walls).
‘I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people *chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn’t come to that.’
His targets included ‘Administration officials (not including [FBI Director Kash] Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.’
Allen wrote, allegedly referencing the president: ‘I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.’
Cole Allen, 31, sent the eerie anti-Trump writing to his family members just 10 minutes before he fired shots at the hotel in Washington, where the ritzy press gala was taking place on Saturday night
Harrowing surveillance footage captured the moment gun-wielding shooter Cole Tomas Allen stormed past security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
An agent is seen drawing his gun and shouting after gunshots were heard at the dinner
Guests at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner were told to get to the ground after shots were fired outside the ballroom
Donald Trump spoke out on Sunday morning, following the chaotic night at the dinner.
He told Fox that the shooter ‘had a lot of hatred in his heart’ and that religion was a reason why the gunman attacked.
The President said this morning: ‘He had a lot of hatred in his heart for quite a while, and he just, I don’t know, it was a religious thing. It was strongly anti, anti Christian. And I don’t know if you’ve gotten it released the manifesto.
‘He’s got some big problems with the rest of his life, but it’s very, very bad, very bad situation,’ the President continued.
Cole Allen, a teacher from Torrance, California, had a manifesto, and his siblings knew he had firearms and were worried about him.
On Saturday night, chilling surveillance footage captured the moment gun-wielding Allen stormed past security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Allen was seen wearing all black as he sprinted inside the Washington Hilton hotel on Saturday evening with a gun in hand, video posted by President Donald Trump on Truth Social showed.
Just moments before he ran, security guards were seen standing in the hallway, but as soon as he sped by, they immediately reacted and pulled out their firearms.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, is thought to have been targeting members of the Trump administration when he charged into the ballroom at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night. He is pictured after he was tackled to the ground and arrested
Shattered glass lies on a staircase near the ballroom at the Washington Hilton hotel, where a shooting incident occurred yesterday night at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, in Washington, DC on April 26, 2026
A woman is arrested as members of the US Secret Service and local police work to contain the scene outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, during a shooting inside the Washington Hilton, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington, DC
House Speaker Mike Johnson being rushed out of the venue by Secret Service members
Police revealed the suspect had a number of weapons on him, including a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives.
President Trump shared a stunning image shortly after the shooting, showing the suspect shirtless and lying face down on the carpet.
Law enforcement confirmed he was not struck by gunfire while being stopped, but has since been taken to the hospital for evaluation.
Allen was a guest at the Hilton hotel where the event was taking place.
Surveillance video shows the suspect sprinting past a security checkpoint and attempting to reach the doors to the ballroom where the president was gathered, along with his most senior cabinet members and thousands of journalists.
President Donald Trump takes questions from media at a press briefing at the White House, following a shooting incident during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, in Washington, DC, US, April 25, 2026
The Allen family are seen with Allen, second from right, together with brother Gabriel, his mother Kathy, father, Thomas, and sisters Stephanie and Avriana
FBI tactical agents leave on a vehicle after entering a house believed to be linked to the suspect in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting on April 26, 2026 in Torrance, California
Evidence found on Allen’s electronic devices and in his writings points towards the theory that he intended to target administration members in attendance at the dinner.
His family members told law enforcement that Allen had sent them some of his disturbing writings before the attack, which prompted one of them to alert police. The writings did not specifically mention the dinner on Saturday.
Another family member told investigators that Allen has made radical statements and that he frequently mentioned plans to do ‘something’ to fix problems with today’s world.
The family added that Allen would regularly visit a shooting range to train with his guns. A senior US official told CBS News that the suspected gunman was part of a group called The Wide Awakes and that he attended a No Kings protest in California.
