Ten minutes before storming into the Washington Hilton armed, during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Cole Tomas Allen31, from Torrance, California, sent a lengthy document to his relatives explaining his intentions and detailing who he planned to attack.
This document was signed with the pseudonyms “Cole ‘coldForce’ Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen,” and in it Allen outlined his “rules of engagement” for the attack.
The manifesto, published in its entirety by The New York Postopens with a series of apologies.
Allen wrote: “I apologize to my parents for saying I had an interview without specifying it was for ‘Most Wanted.’”
He also apologized to his colleagues and students: “I apologize to my colleagues and students for saying that I had a personal emergency.” In the same section he acknowledged that, by the time they read the text, he would probably need medical attention, although he described it as a condition that “he could hardly not call self-inflicted.”
Toward the end of the apology, Allen wrote: “I don’t expect forgiveness, but if I could have seen any other way to get this close, I would have taken it.”
What were your motivations and objectives?
Allen justified the attack in terms of citizen responsibility. In the manifesto, he wrote: “I am a citizen of the United States of America. What my representatives do reflects me. And I am no longer willing to allow a pedophile, rapist and traitor—apparently referring to Donald Trump—to stain my hands with his crimes.”
One section of the document details precisely who Allen considered white and who he did not.
Under the title “rules of engagement,” the manifesto states:
“Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): They are targets, prioritized from highest to lowest rank.”
“Secret Service: Target only if necessary and should be non-lethally incapacitated if possible.”
“Hotel security: not objective if possible.”
“Hotel employees: they are not objective at all. Guests: they are not objective at all.”
Despite these distinctions, the document warns: “I would still fight my way through most of the people here to get to the targets if absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people chose to attend the speech of a pedophile, rapist and traitor, and are therefore complicit), but I really hope it doesn’t come to that.”
Regarding weaponry, Allen justified his tactical choice: “In order to minimize casualties, I will also use shot instead of solid projectiles (less penetration through walls).”
The arguments in “objections and replies” format
Part of the document is structured as a series of anticipated objections to his actions, followed by his own responses. Allen identified himself as a Christian and responded to the “turn the other cheek” argument with the following reasoning:
“Turning the other cheek is for when oneself is oppressed. I am not the person raped in a detention camp. I am not the fisherman executed without trial. I am not a bombed school child, nor a starving child, nor a teenager abused by the many criminals of this administration. Turning the other cheek when another person is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the crimes of the oppressor.”
To the objection that “it was not a good time” to act, he responded: “I need those who think like that to take a couple of minutes and realize that the world does not revolve around them.”
The document also includes a reflection on his own racial identity as an argument for action. To the hypothetical objection that, as a “half-black, half-white” person, he should not be the one to carry out the attack, Allen responded tersely: “I don’t see anyone else taking the initiative.”
🚨🚨🚨BREAKING: President Trump was just rushed off the stage during the White House Correspondents’ Association after reports of shots being fired.
Armed officers are heard yelling, “Stay down!” pic.twitter.com/6dOCuEvVD3
—Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 26, 2026
The description about security
At the end of the manifesto, Allen abandoned the formal tone and included a more personal note about what he found—or did not find—when he arrived at the hotel. According to the text published by The New York Postthis part says:
“What I expected: security cameras on every corner, hotel rooms tapped, armed agents every three meters, metal detectors everywhere. What I found was nothing. No security. Not in the transportation. Not in the hotel. Not in the event.”
He added: “The only thing I immediately noticed upon entering the hotel was the sense of arrogance. I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person considers the possibility that I could be a threat. Event security is all outside, focused on the protesters and those arriving, because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before.”
The document concludes with a personal reflection: “If anyone is curious about what it feels like to do something like this: it’s horrible. I want to vomit; I want to cry for all the things I wanted to do and will never do, for all the people whose trust this betrays.” And he closed with a warning aimed especially at young people: “Stay in school, kids!”
BREAKING: President Trump has shared footage of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting and a photo of the suspect. pic.twitter.com/3H1M7hwKbj
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 26, 2026
The attack alert
According to CNN, Allen’s brother notified the New London, Connecticut, Police Department about the manifesto – which the suspect had sent to his relatives – just minutes before the incident. The White House reported that the family also alerted police minutes before the attack occurred.
President Trump commented on Sunday: “I heard about the situation in New London, and I wish they had told us a little sooner, but that’s the way it is. We had a big group of people there last night.”
