Cole Allen, the 31-year-old alleged gunman who tried to shoot up the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner attended by President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., Saturday night in an attempt to assassinate Trump and Trump officials, mocked the “incompetence” of the Secret Service in a manifesto sent to family members ten minutes before the attack, according to a report by New York Post reporter Steven Nelson. (Allen’s brother notified New London, CT, police last night about the manifesto.)
An addition to President Trump, the Washington Hilton ballroom was filled with many high-ranking figures and officials including First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
In his manifesto, Allen wrote he was targeting the “highest ranking” official (Trump) on down, with an unexplained exception for Patel:“Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest”
Trump has expressed support for the handling of the attack by the Secret Service. Other senior administration officials have stated the security plan worked as the shooter did not gain entry to the ballroom where the dinner was being held and no protectees or guests were harmed.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on whether the WHCD shooting incident was a security failure:
“To the contrary, this was a massive security success story….this suspect barely breached the perimeter,” Blanche tells @CNN.
— Julia Manchester (@JuliaManch) April 26, 2026
Some dinner attendees have said they were surprised by perceived security failures, most notably former Obama and Biden administration official Symone Saunders Townsend:
Sanders Townsend notes that she has experience with Secret Service evacuations and protocol because of her with then-Vice President Biden: “And what happened tonight in terms of protocol, from what I know, having experienced it was not protocol.”
Stephanie Ruhle notes the ticket… pic.twitter.com/9225hKJZrl
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) April 26, 2026
Allen expressed astonishment that he was able to take weapons into the site of the dinner, the Washington Hilton, without being searched simply because he had a room there:
“if I was an Iranian agent, instead of an American citizen, I could have brought a damn Ma Deuce in here…” (M2 Browning .50-caliber machine gun.)
Federal law enforcement authorities told reporters Allen was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and knives when he rushed the security checkpoint and exchanged gunfire with officers before being tackled and subdued. One Secret Service officer was hit by a bullet in his protective vest, reportedly by Allen, who wrote he might target them:
“Secret Service: they are targets only if necessary, and to be incapacitated non-lethally if possible (aka, I hope they’re wearing body armor because center mass with shotguns messes up people who *aren’t*”
pic.twitter.com/zcgVgZivwD
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 26, 2026
Allen also wrote that if he survived, it would be due to incompetence by the Secret Service. Indeed, Allen emerged unscathed after charging the Secret Service checkpoint, drawing gunfire from agents but not being hit once:
“I would also like to extend my appreciation to a great many people since I will not be likely to be able to talk with them again (unless the Secret Service is *astoundingly* incompetent.)”
The Washington Post reported Allen made it sixty feet past the Secret Service checkpoint:
Breaking news: The suspect at the White House correspondents’ dinner sprinted 60 feet past a Secret Service security checkpoint, racing through a magnetometer and reaching the top of a staircase that led to the ballroom, according to a Post analysis. https://t.co/AAPVvzAozl
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 26, 2026
Excerpt from the Cole Allen manifesto on security failures at the dinner via the New York Post:
PS: Ok now that all the sappy stuff is done, what the hell is the Secret Service doing? Sorry, gonna rant a bit here and drop the formal tone.
Like, I expected security cameras at every bend, bugged hotel rooms, armed agents every 10 feet, metal detectors out the wazoo.
What I got (who knows, maybe they’re pranking me!) is nothing.
No damn security.
Not in transport.
Not in the hotel.
Not in the event.
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.
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.
Much more to Allen’s manifesto, which can be read in full via the New York Post.
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