July 24, 2026:
UNDATED-AP- When guests arrive for the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at Washington’s Waldorf Astoria hotel, security will be much tighter. The guest list will be smaller Friday (July 24, 2026). The partying will be pared down. That much, the correspondents’ association can control. What remains out of its control is what the dinner’s most prominent guest, President Donald Trump, will bring to the table. The big unknown is whether the Republican president will bring the fighting words against the press he’d planned to deliver in April. That was before the event descended into chaos when a gunman stormed a security checkpoint, forcing an evacuation of the room.
May 4, 2026:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities have determined that buckshot from the gun of the man charged with trying to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in an attempt to kill President Donald Trump struck a Secret Service agent. That word comes from the federal prosecutor overseeing the investigation. Jeanine Pirro said last week there was no evidence the agent was hit by friendly fire during the incident at a Washington hotel on April 25, 2026. But the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia went beyond that Sunday in saying a shot from one of Cole Tomas Allen’s weapons hit the officer’s bullet-resistant vest. Allen was injured during the attack but wasn’t shot. The officer survived.
April 27, 2026:
TORRANCE, Calif. (AP) — The California man arrested in the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer opposed to the policies of President Donald Trump.
Authorities say Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, was taken into custody at the dinner Saturday night (April 25, 20026) in Washington that was attended by Trump and top members of his administration. A social media profile for a man with the same name and a photo that appears to match that of the suspect show he worked part-time for the last six years at a company that offers admissions counseling and test preparation services to aspiring college students.
In a message sent to family members minutes before the attack, the 31-year-old the described himself as “Friendly Federal Assassin” and railed against recent actions taken by the U.S. government under Trump, though he did not name the Republican president directly, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press.
The writings ran more than a thousand words and read as a rambling, deeply personal message, opening almost jarringly with a casual “hello everybody!” before shifting into apologies to family members, co-workers, fellow travelers and even strangers he feared could be caught in the violence. The note moved between confession, grievance and farewell, with Allen thanking people in his life even as he sought to explain the attack.
Elsewhere, the document veered between political anger, religious justifications and rebuttals to imagined critics, at times reading as if he were arguing with detractors in real time.
Authorities said Allen will face charges including using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer, as well as other potential counts. A search of state and federal court databases showed no indication Allen had ever previously been charged with a crime.
Allen was arrested Saturday night trying to rush past a security checkpoint with two firearms and knives. Law enforcement officials told the AP that Allen legally bought a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol in October 2023 and a 12-gauge shotgun last year.
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