BBC: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A California man has been charged with attempting to assassinate US President Donald Trump in an incident that has sparked a White House security review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, was also charged with two firearms offences when he appeared in court in Washington DC on Monday. He did not enter a plea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was carrying a semi-automatic handgun, a pump-action shotgun and three knives as he charged past a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday, say prosecutors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Secret Service agent was shot but not seriously wounded during the attack at a hotel. The accused faces life in prison if found guilty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dressed in a blue jumpsuit with a nametag, the suspect appeared calm at Monday’s court appearance in the nation’s capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was softly spoken as he answered almost every question from the judge with either “yes, your honour” or “no, your honour”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He stated his age and said he had a master’s degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three US marshals stood behind him, and one was at his side, while the federal prosecutor handling the case, US Attorney for Washington Jeanine Pirro, looked on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During Saturday night’s incident, Trump, Vice-President JD Vance, cabinet members and other White House officials were rushed from the Washington Hilton hotel ballroom after gunfire rang out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The suspect allegedly rushed through a security checkpoint one floor above the basement venue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“One Secret Service officer was shot in the chest, but was wearing a ballistic vest that worked,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told a news conference on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This heroic officer who was hit fired five times at Allen, who was not shot but fell to the ground and was promptly arrested.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blanche said the suspect is believed to have discharged his shotgun at least once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is not clear whether the Secret Service agent was shot by the suspect, or was caught in crossfire from other law enforcement. The agent has been released from the hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attempting to assassinate the president carries a potential life sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other charges – transportation of a firearm between states to commit a felony and discharging a firearm in a crime of violence – both have maximum sentences of 10 years. The suspect is due to appear in court again on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The court heard that the accused crossed multiple state lines in order to try to kill Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The suspect left his home in the city of Torrance in the Los Angeles area on 21 April, travelling by train to Chicago, said officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 24 April, he left Chicago, and arrived in Washington where he checked into the Hilton on the eve of <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The suspect studied at the prestigious California Institute of Technology, and worshipped at the Pasadena United Reformed Church in the Los Angeles area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federal campaign finance records show he donated $25 to a Democratic Party political action committee in support of Kamala Harris for president in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to an affidavit, the accused sent an email to his family shortly before the attack that said, “Administration officials… are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary,” he allegedly added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was remanded in custody and prosecutors said more charges could be filed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The accused has not been co-operating with investigators, law enforcement sources told the BBC’s US <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As US investigators look into the third alleged assassination attempt against Trump, security officials are reviewing the president’s protection protocols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many have questioned whether the security perimeter at the Washington Hilton was strong enough, why attendees were not asked to show ID at the event, and why the president, vice-president and others in the line of succession were all gathered in one place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Monday’s news conference, the acting attorney general maintained that “law enforcement did not fail” in its job to protect the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He noted that the gunman was one floor away, “with hundreds of federal agents between him and the President of the United States”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Washington Hilton, where John Hinckley Jr attempted to assassinate then-President Ronald Reagan 45 years ago, said it had followed security instructions from the Secret Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A senior White House official told the BBC that Trump was “standing by” the leadership of the Secret Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles will convene a meeting this week to “discuss protocol and practices for major events”, the official also said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has offered assurances that King Charles III will “be very safe” during his four-day state visit to the US, which began on Monday at the White House.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BBC: A California man has been charged with attempting to assassinate US President Donald Trump in an incident that has sparked a White House security review. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, was also charged with two firearms offences when he appeared in court in Washington DC on Monday. He did not enter a plea. He was carrying a semi-automatic handgun, a pump-action shotgun and three knives as he charged past a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday, say prosecutors. A Secret Service agent was shot but not seriously wounded during the attack at a hotel. The… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-in-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57091"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57092,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57091\/revisions\/57092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/57089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}