Man accused of trying to kill Trump at correspondents’ gala is set to return to court

WASHINGTON (AP) — The man who authorities say tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with guns and knives and tried to kill President Donald Trump will appear Thursday in court as a judge decides whether Cole Tomas Allen will remain behind bars while awaiting trial.

In pressing for Allen’s continued detention, prosecutors have alleged that he planned his attack for weeks and tracked Trump’s movements online before he ran through a magnetometer at the Washington Hilton while holding a long gun and disrupted one of the highest-profile annual events in the nation’s capital.

Allen was injured during the attack but was not shot. A Secret Service officer was shot but was wearing a bullet-resistant vest and survived, officials say. Prosecutors have said they believe Allen fired his shotgun at least once and that a Secret Service agent fired five shots. They have not publicly confirmed that it was Allen’s bullet that struck the agent’s vest.

In a letter to prosecutors on Wednesday, Allen’s lawyers alleged that some of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s statements “indicate that the recovered ballistics evidence is inconsistent with aspects of the government’s theory, evidence collected by the government and/or statements made by witnesses.”

The Justice Department, in response, said the evidence shows Allen fired his shotgun at least once in the Secret Service agent’s direction. Investigators recovered at least one fragment at the crime scene that is consistent with a buckshot pellet, prosecutors wrote.

“The government is aware of no physical evidence, digital video evidence, or witness statements that are inconsistent with the theory that your client fired his shotgun in the direction” of the officer or that the officer “was indeed shot once in the chest while wearing a ballistic vest,” prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Allen took a picture of himself in his hotel room just minutes before the incident, and that he was outfitted with an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife. In a message that authorities say sheds light on his motive, Allen referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” and alluded obliquely to grievances over a range of Trump administration actions, according to writings sent to family members shortly before shots were fired Saturday night. The Associated Press reviewed the writings.

Allen’s lawyers are pressing for his release, arguing in court papers that the government’s case is “based upon inferences drawn about Mr. Allen’s intent that raise more questions than answers.” They defense noted that Allen’s writings never mentioned Trump by name.

“The government’s evidence of the charged offense –- the attempted assassination of the president –- is thus built entirely upon speculation, even under the most generous reading of its theory,” defense lawyers wrote.

Allen was charged on Monday with that crime, as well as two additional firearms counts, including discharging a weapon during a crime of violence. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the assassination count alone.

Allen, 31, is from Torrance, California. He is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.