Surveillance footage released Thursday shows Cole Tomas Allen walking the hallways of the Washington Hilton Hotel on April 24, one day before he allegedly stormed a Secret Service checkpoint outside the White House Correspondents' Association dinner with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun.
The video, posted to X by Jeanine Pirro, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, traces Allen's movements across both evenings. On April 24, he is seen entering a gym adjacent to a hallway, talking to an attendant, and then returning to the corridor. The carpet in that hallway matches footage from the shooting scene the following night.
On April 25, the night of the dinner, Allen appears on camera at 8:23 p.m. wearing a long coat, walking the same hallway. Thirteen minutes later, at 8:36 p.m., the footage shows two officers beginning to take down one of two magnetometers at a security checkpoint set up one floor above the ballroom. Allen appears to pass through a side door about ten steps behind the checkpoint.
An officer with a dog approaches that doorway and stands there for roughly 15 seconds before walking away. Allen then bolts from the doorway, shotgun in hand, directly toward and through the remaining magnetometer. A Secret Service officer who had been speaking with two colleagues drew his handgun about two seconds after Allen emerged and immediately opened fire, discharging at least three rounds as Allen ran past him. The video shows Allen raising the shotgun and pointing it at the officer.
Pirro stated that the footage shows Allen shooting a Secret Service officer. However, it is not clear from the video whether Allen actually discharged his weapon. Pirro also said investigators found no evidence that a Secret Service agent struck by gunfire during the incident was shot by another law enforcement officer. That agent was not seriously injured because the round was stopped by protective gear, according to Trump.
Allen is a 31-year-old graduate of Caltech and worked as a tutor from Torrance, California. Prosecutors have charged him in connection with the alleged assassination attempt. Present at the dinner that night were Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel, and hundreds of journalists.
Pirro's office is prosecuting the case. No trial date has been publicly announced.
