The accused of attempted assassination of the President of the United States, Cole Allen, has accepted this Thursday, in his second hearing in a Washington court, the precautionary measure requested by the Prosecutor’s Office against him to remain in preventive detention until the trial is held. His lawyer, Moxila Upadhyaya, has confirmed to the judge that she will not challenge the Government’s attempt to keep him under federal custody.
The three crimes he is charged with – attempted assassination of Donald Trump, transportation of a firearm and ammunition across states with the intent to commit a serious crime, and use of a firearm during a violent crime – can entail preventive detention, as requested by the prosecution.
Allen has not yet pleaded guilty or innocent to the charges, something he is expected to do at the preliminary hearing set for May 11. Until then, he will remain confined in a “safe cell” under 24-hour lockdown. Although Allen’s defense has asked the judge to relax these conditions, she responded that she does not have the authority to overturn the decision, which corresponds to the penitentiary center.
The shooter could face life imprisonment for the three serious crimes he is accused of
The inmate, who arrived escorted to the courtroom by three U.S. Marshals, wore a short-sleeved orange jumpsuit, characteristic of U.S. prisons. According to journalists present, he did not look at or address those present at any time.
The prosecution had requested preventive detention, arguing that the crimes he is accused of are “among the most serious in the United States code, and the evidence of his guilt is overwhelming.” In its court filing this Wednesday, the Department of Justice presented new evidence showing that the suspect carried out “extensive planning” of the attack.
Among the new evidence presented, they published a photo that Allen took of himself in a mirror moments before confronting the security cordon outside the room where Trump was on Saturday, at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, where the president was scheduled to give a speech for the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner event.
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According to the document, a Secret Service agent “observed the accused firing the shotgun towards the stairs leading to the ballroom” and the agent fired five times at him. Allen fell to the ground but was not hit by the shots, and was immediately subdued and arrested by authorities. The Secret Service agent was shot but emerged unscathed thanks to his bulletproof vest. However, the document does not indicate who fired the shot, so it could have been another agent, as some U.S. media suggest, and not Allen.
The prosecution also provided a more precise timeline of events, stating that Allen spent “weeks” preparing the attack, which they defined as a “planned attack of unimaginable malice” and an “anti-democratic act of political violence.” According to information gathered from his mobile phone, from which they took the photo published yesterday, on the day of the attack the shooter tracked Trump’s movements several times through a web portal.
Although Allen’s defense initially tried to secure his release, they ultimately accepted detention without bail. In their initial argument, they said the 31-year-old has no criminal record, has a university education, worked as a tutor, and is a “devout Christian” who regularly attends church. But these arguments were not enough for the magistrate to reconsider his preventive detention.
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Another argument from the defense is that, in the emails Allen sent to his family minutes before the attack, a “manifesto” in which he revealed his intention to take justice into his own hands, he did not mention Trump by name at any time, so the prosecution’s version is based on “speculation.” “Although the government may say that the letter expresses the intention to attack administration officials, it does not at all specify that it is President Trump,” it states.
While the preliminary phase continues, in which both parties try to present or invalidate evidence, federal prosecutor Jeanine Pirro stated in an interview on Fox News that she plans to bring “many more charges” against him once the grand jury, the group of citizens who must determine whether the prosecution has probable cause to formally charge Allen with one or more serious federal crimes, comes into play.
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