Cole Allen charged with trying to assassinate Trump at WHCD event

At roughly the same time as the shooting, Allen emailed his family and a former employer “explaining the actions he was about to take,” the FBI affidavit said.

“I wish I could have said anything earlier, but doing so would have made none of this possible. My sincerest apologies for all the trouble I’ve caused,” read the email, titled “Apology and Explanation.”

“On to why I did any of this: I am a citizen of the United States of America. What my representatives do reflects on me. And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” Allen wrote in the email, according to the affidavit.

Trump administration officials “are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” he allegedly wrote, explicitly excluding Patel.

Secret Service agents are targets “only if necessary,” and hotel security, Capitol Police officers and National Guard members are “not targets if at all possible (aka unless they shoot at me),” the email read, per the affidavit.

In a “P.S.” in the note, which was first reported by The New York Post but is not included in the affidavit, Allen went on what he called a “rant” about the apparent lack of security measures at the Hilton.

“I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat,” Allen wrote, according to The Post. 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,” he wrote.

The letter was signed “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen,” The Post reported.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/27/cole-allen-whcd-arraigment-trump.html