Shooting suspect charged after attempted Trump assassination — BBC News

[0:00] But, of course, this much-anticipated state visit by the King and Queen comes after a [0:05] suspected gunman at the White House Correspondents' Dinner event has appeared in court just a [0:11] couple of hours ago as well, and he's been charged with an attempt to assassinate the [0:15] President of the United States. [0:18] The suspect has been named as 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen from California. [0:23] He was detained by Secret Service agents at the Washington Hilton Hotel on Saturday night, [0:28] and he appeared here in federal court just a few hours ago. [0:42] Just a glimpse there of the chaotic scenes at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on [0:47] Saturday evening. [0:49] President Trump was inside the ballroom alongside First Lady Melania, Vice President J.D. Vance, [0:55] many senior Cabinet figures and hundreds of journalists, nearly 2,000 people in attendance [1:02] there on Saturday night. [1:04] The U.S. Department of Justice held a press conference a short time ago. [1:07] The acting U.S. Attorney General, Todd Blanch, listed the charges against the defendant after [1:13] praising the actions of law enforcement on Saturday night. [1:16] TODD BLANCH, U.S. Attorney General, Acting U.S. Attorney General, Attorney General Todd Blanch, [1:17] Law enforcement did not fail. [1:20] They did exactly what they are trained to do. [1:23] This was not an accident. [1:25] It was the result, as we know now, of preparation. [1:29] But the men and women who protected us that night were trained, professional, and had an enduring [1:36] commitment to the rule of law. [1:39] Today, the Department of Justice filed three federal charges in United States District [1:45] Court against Cole Thomas Allen. [1:48] The first count is attempted assassination of the President of the United States. [1:54] This count is punishable by up to life in prison. [1:57] The second count is interstate transportation of a firearm to commit a felony. [2:02] This is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. [2:05] And the third count is discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, which is punishable [2:10] by a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years, a maximum of life. [2:15] And the 10 years is consecutive to any other sentence imposed. [2:20] Now, Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, gave more details [2:27] about the investigation at that same press conference. [2:31] There will be additional charges as this investigation continues to unfold. [2:36] But make no mistake, this was an attempted assassination of the President of the United States, with [2:44] the defendant making clear what his intent was. [2:48] And that intent was to bring down as many of the high-ranking Cabinet officials as he could. [2:56] This is the kind of situation that we cannot tolerate. [3:00] And as the Attorney General has just indicated, it could have been so much worse but for the [3:07] reality that we had the Secret Service as well as the Metropolitan Police Department and [3:14] the FBI. [3:15] Our correspondent, Shama Khalil, was following the proceedings in court earlier, and she [3:23] spoke to me about the atmosphere in the courtroom. [3:26] Right before Cole Allen entered the room, there was this anxious hum, if you will, this expectation [3:32] of what it will be like when he walks in. [3:34] In fact, Jeanine Pirro was in attendance. [3:38] She was in the nearly full courtroom before she made an appearance in that press conference. [3:43] And then silence as the door opened and Cole Allen was brought in by law enforcement officers. [3:50] He was sat down next to two people, who we now know are the two lawyers assigned to him. [3:57] He appeared quite calm when he was answering the judge's questions. [3:59] He answered his question when he asked about his age, he said 31, when he was asked about [4:04] his education. [4:05] He said a master's degree, and then he was listening intently and calmly when the judge [4:10] explained the procedure, but also when he read him his rights. [4:13] And then there was these charges. [4:16] One of the attempted assassination of the president, Donald J. Trump, which if found guilty, carries [4:22] a maximum sentence of life in prison, and then the two other firearms offences. [4:27] One is the interstate transportation of firearms to commit felony, and then the other one is [4:32] discharging a firearm in a crime of violence, each one carrying the maximum 10 years in prison [4:39] if found guilty. [4:40] Now, what was interesting and what came up actually, Katrina, in the questions after the press conference [4:46] is a couple of things. [4:47] One is that one of the charges that we'd heard about before his appearance was the assault [4:53] of a federal officer. [4:55] We didn't hear that in court. [4:56] This was not leveled against him in court. [4:59] And Todd Blanche was asked about that, and he said that they're still looking at that, [5:03] but that that doesn't exclude the other charges that were leveled against him. [5:07] But I think also it goes into the more questions about these shots that were fired. [5:14] We understand, again, from the acting attorney general that five shots were fired. [5:19] But we've also heard that Alan himself has fired a shot from his shotgun. [5:26] So there is a little bit of confusion, if you will, about how many shots exactly, who shot [5:31] it, and if indeed it was Alan who shot the federal officer. [5:36] We also understand from the acting attorney general that there were multiple devices that [5:42] were being recovered and being closely examined right now from his room in the Hilton Hotel [5:46] in Washington and from where he lived in Torrance, California, in western Los Angeles. [5:53] So there's still a lot of bits of evidence at play here. [5:58] A lot is being examined. He pointed out the fact that this is a day and a half [6:01] into the investigation. But again, I think at the heart of all of this is the concern, [6:08] is the question about the level of security. Yes, the president himself and Kash Patel, [6:14] the director of the FBI, and Todd Blanche all made the point of how well that security plan worked. [6:20] The fact that Cole Allen was apprehended quickly, that these officers acted within seconds, [6:25] and he was prevented from entering that ballroom. That is true. But to get as far as he has, [6:31] or if you will, as close to the ballroom as he has, because it was just in the level, [6:35] of course, as you know, you were there above it. And then being as heavily armed as he was, [6:41] and having stayed at the hotel a day before, all of that is still unclear about how he was able [6:47] to make all of this happen in the time leading up to the attack, or the attempted attack. [6:53] Well, let's speak now to former federal prosecutor Nima Rahmani. Nima, thank you for joining us here [7:03] on BBC News. I just want to ask you about some of what we heard in that press briefing earlier with [7:08] the acting attorney general and the DC attorney, Jeanine Pirro. And she said there would be additional [7:14] charges as this investigation continues. She said it was an attempted assassination of the president of [7:20] the United States, but also an attempt to bring down as many of the high-ranking cabinet members [7:26] as this individual could. Do you expect we'll see charges around that once the investigation carries [7:33] on? Katrina, I do. And really, today's charges were just a placeholder to hold Cole Allen in custody. [7:41] And within days, and certainly within two weeks, the U.S. Attorney's Office will go before the grand [7:48] jury, and they will present additional charges. And those will be the charges that will be presented to [7:53] a trial jury. Now, some of these charges already are very serious. They carry a potential life [7:59] sentence in federal prison, including the attempted assassination of a president, [8:03] the use and discharge of a firearm in connection with a crime of violence. But [8:08] we know prosecutors like to pile on those charges, not because they add any additional prison time, [8:13] but they can potentially bring in other evidence. And in this particular case, for instance, [8:18] let's say the jurors don't find the specific intent to kill the president of the United States, [8:22] but maybe another cabinet official or another law enforcement officer, that allows the jurors [8:29] options potentially to return a verdict on other counts to make sure that Cole Allen spends a lot of [8:34] time in federal prison. Now, he didn't enter any plea during the arraignment hearing today, but we did hear [8:44] from the attorneys there. They were very clearly laying out what they see as his intent in terms [8:51] of booking the hotel room in advance, traveling by train from Los Angeles through to Chicago and on [8:57] to D.C., and bringing the weapons that he had with him on that journey. What's the significance of them [9:03] focusing in on that? Katrina, it's highly significant. You're talking about motive, intent, premeditation. [9:11] That's why that manifesto is such good evidence for the prosecution and will make the case so difficult [9:17] to defend. Within minutes of this shooting, you have the defendant emailing his relatives and [9:25] identifying his intent and his motivation for doing so. So when you have someone that essentially [9:32] confesses to many of the elements of the crime, admits to these traveling across state lines, [9:39] carrying the ammunition, even really mocking the security at the hotel there in Washington, D.C., [9:44] the Hilton, I think you have plenty of evidence in this case, certainly more than enough to have [9:50] probable cause to get that grand jury indictment and likely enough to prove the case beyond a reasonable [9:55] doubt to a trial jury. What is the timeline here, Nima, in terms of, you know, how long this may take? [10:06] I mean, we heard that this individual is now facing, if convicted, a life sentence and will appear for [10:12] another quick hearing towards the end of the week. What is the path forward? [10:17] So, Katrina, these are the next steps in the proceedings. The first is a potential detention [10:22] hearing that usually happens within the first three days, which is why we're getting a hearing on [10:27] Thursday. There, the question is, is Cole Allen, is he going to be released on some sort of bond [10:33] pending trial? I think it's very unlikely. Bond is only appropriate when someone's not at risk of [10:38] flight or a danger to the community, and it does seem like Allen is a danger. The next step is a [10:43] preliminary hearing, but that typically does not happen in the federal criminal justice system here [10:48] in the United States, as long as there's a grand jury indictment. That indictment has to happen [10:53] within 14 days if the defense doesn't waive time or within 30 days. So, in a matter of weeks, [11:00] or maybe even days, we will have that grand jury indictment. And that is really the first step. [11:04] That's the official charging document, not the complaint necessarily that the trial jurors will see. [11:10] And then the defense gets to decide what they do. Do they plead guilty pursuant to some plea agreement, [11:16] try to put on some sort of mitigation type defense to try to get their clients something less than a life [11:22] sentence, maybe point to some mental health or other issues? Or do they dig in their heels and push the [11:29] case all the way to trial? Because if it's going to be a life or close to life case, if they plead guilty, [11:34] and a life case, if Cole Allen is convicted at trial, the defense may just roll the dice and say, [11:39] you know what, maybe we'll push some sort of conspiracy theory that this was staged or something else, [11:45] hoping that we might get a hung jury. So, I think we'll know soon if the defense is going to go along [11:51] the mitigation plea route or really prepare this case for trial. We'll probably have more answers [11:57] in the next coming weeks. Okay. Neema Ramini, thank you very much for joining us here on BBC News.