Cole Allen was swiftly identified as the suspected gunman at the April 25, 2026, White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner after Donald Trump confirmed the shooter had been apprehended. The 31-year-old Torrance, California, resident sent a manifesto to his family members minutes before he allegedly opened fire at the annual event in Washington, D.C., and the public is learning more about Allen’s personal life and beliefs.
Read Allen’s manifesto here and learn what we know so far about his background.
Did Cole Allen Try to Assassinate Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner?
As previously noted, Allen has been named the suspected shooter at the event. Authorities took him into custody on April 25 after evacuating Trump and others in the room earlier that evening.
Is Cole Allen a Democrat or a Republican?
Allen seemed to support Democrats more than Republicans. According to the Associated Press, a yard sign at his family’s home supported a local Los Angeles County Democratic Party candidate.
Additionally, federal campaign finance records indicated that Allen donated $25 to a political action committee supporting Kamala Harris during her 2024 presidential campaign.
Cole Allen’s Manifesto
Allen’s manifesto, which can be read in full via The New York Post, was apparently written for his family members and describes himself as “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen.” He began the manifesto by apologizing to those “whose trust [he] abused” and writing that he doesn’t “expect forgiveness.”
He went on to call Trump a “pedophile, rapist, and traitor,” before listing who his targets were at the WHCD.
“Administration officials (not including Mr. [Kash] Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” Allen wrote. “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* Hotel Security: not targets if at all possible (aka unless they shoot at me).”
Elsewhere in the manifesto, Allen wrote that the Washington Hilton Hotel employees and the dinner guests were “not targets at all.” He also criticized the level of security at the event as incompetent.
“Like, the one thing that I immediately noticed walking into the hotel is the sense of arrogance,” Allen claimed. “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.”
