Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said authorities are investigating the attack at a media dinner hosted by President Donald Trump, Politico reports.
Blanche said the gunman, who was taken into custody shortly after the shooting, was not cooperating with authorities. Neither Trump nor anyone else at the dinner was injured, but one Secret Service agent was hospitalized. In an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation on the morning of the 26th of April, Blanche said it was still being investigated what lapses in security protocols allowed the gunman to bring a weapon into the hotel. Speaking on ABC’s This Week, he said more details about the weapons used by the gunman would likely be available in the coming days.
As new evidence continued to emerge, Blanche said authorities believe the suspect targeted US administration officials, including the president, but did not provide further details.
As shots rang out near the event, both Trump and Vice President JD Vance were evacuated and the event was canceled. Trump initially insisted the event go ahead, but later said authorities had opposed the plan and
a new date for the media dinner would be announced within the next 30 days.
Blanche said authorities investigating the incident, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service and local law enforcement, have already served multiple search warrants. He said authorities are actively interviewing witnesses who know the shooter and are investigating the suspect’s motives. The BBC reported that 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen from California was arrested. He allegedly said he wanted to shoot representatives of the Trump administration. Investigators are considering the version that the attacker assembled the weapon on site at a hotel. To carry out the attack, Allen took a train from California to Chicago, and then also took a train from Chicago to Washington. Then on the 24th of April, he stayed at the Washington Hilton hotel, where the annual dinner for representatives of the US administration and the media is traditionally held.
Politico reports that Allen sent a manifesto to his family members a few minutes before the attack, which is currently being reviewed by authorities. The attacker’s brother immediately reported the manifesto to local police in Connecticut after receiving it.
The Secret Service and Montgomery County Police have also questioned Allen’s sister, who lives in Maryland, who confirmed that her brother had purchased three guns and had a tendency to make radical statements.
Speaking to Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich, who was on stage with Trump at the time of the attack, on the 26th of April,
the US president said the shooter was a “very troubled guy” who, according to a manifesto, hated Christians.
Politico has not been able to verify the veracity of this statement. Trump said the attacker had a long history of hatred and was against Christianity. He also said Allen had not even come near the door.
District of Columbia Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on the evening of the 25th of April that the detainee would be charged on the 27th of April with assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, as well as using a weapon to commit a violent crime. Blanche said on the 26th of April that in addition to these two charges, a number of other federal charges are possible.
Blanche said that when the shooting began, Allen injured a Secret Service agent, who was taken to the hospital. Trump said on the evening of the 25th of April that the agent apparently saved himself by wearing a very good body armor. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed on the morning of the 26th of April that the vest had played a significant role, and the agent has already been discharged from the hospital.
The acting attorney general has told the media that he is confident in the ability of authorities to maintain security during the visit of Britain’s King Charles III, which is planned for this week. Meanwhile,
a Buckingham Palace spokesman said on the 26th of April that extensive discussions are underway
with US officials to understand how much the incident will or will not affect the operational planning of the visit.
The acting chief of the Washington Police Department, Jeffery Carroll, said that the detainee had a shotgun, a pistol and several knives.
Blanche said that he considers the successful outcome of the events a success for the authorities, but that necessary improvements will be made. Meanwhile, Trump insisted on social media on the morning of the 26th of April that the shooting should never have taken place in the future White House Ballroom, which he is building on the site of the demolished East Wing. He wrote on Truth Social that nothing should be allowed to interfere with the construction of the ballroom and criticized the legal proceedings that are planned to stop construction work until Trump receives congressional approval. The Republican Party, based on the events of the 25th of April, has decided to take the necessary steps to stop the legal proceedings and give Trump permission to express himself in the construction of the ballroom.
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