The video is nearly six minutes long. It shows a man walking back and forth down a hotel corridor. It shows him passing through a fitness center. Then it shows him charging through a security checkpoint, carrying what appears to be a long-barreled gun, as uniformed police and agents in suits scramble to stop him.
The US Department of Justice on Thursday released video footage of the man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump last weekend as he charged through a hotel security checkpoint and shot a Secret Service officer.
Jeanine Pirro, US attorney for the District of Columbia, said on X that the security footage also showed suspect Cole Allen “casing the area” in the Washington Hilton during the day before Saturday’s attack at an annual media gala in the capital. The nearly six-minute video features several clips of a man walking back and forth down a corridor and through a fitness center. A more dramatic excerpt shows the man, carrying what appears to be a long-barreled gun, charging through a security checkpoint past uniformed police and agents in suits.
What the Video Shows
Pirro said the video shows “Cole Allen shoot a US Secret Service officer during his attempt to assassinate the President at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.”
“There is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire,” she said, adding that the video had already been provided to the US District Court.
The footage appears to show a Secret Service agent discharging his weapon three times in the direction of the assailant, although police have stressed that Allen was not shot during the attack. In a slow-motion clip released by the Justice Department, white circles are placed around one agent’s weapon at the three moments in which muzzle blasts are seen from the firearm.
Allen, 31, was tackled and detained in a chaotic scuffle with security guards. Shots were fired. Remarkably, no one was killed.
His capture does not feature in the video released Thursday, and it was not immediately clear from the footage who was shot. The victim — the Secret Service officer — is not identified in the clips. The moment of the shooting is visible. The aftermath is not.
The Suspect
Allen, from the state of California, was charged in court on Monday with attempting to assassinate the Republican president. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
The video shows him casing the area. It shows him preparing. It shows him charging. What it does not show is why. The Justice Department has not disclosed a motive. Allen has not publicly spoken. The footage answers the question of how. The question of why remains open.
The Security Questions
The video raises as many questions as it answers about security protocols at one of Washington’s most high-profile annual events. A man with a long-barreled gun was able to charge through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton, the venue for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, while the president was present. He shot a Secret Service officer. He was not shot himself. He was tackled and detained.
The Secret Service has faced scrutiny before over security lapses. The Reagan assassination attempt in 1981. The fence-jumper incident in 2014. The near-miss of a man with a knife outside the White House in 2021. Each time, the agency promises reforms. Each time, a new incident reveals new gaps.
The release of the footage is a transparency measure. But it also exposes the agency to public criticism. The video shows agents responding. It also shows how close Allen came to succeeding.
The Bottom Line
The Justice Department released nearly six minutes of security footage showing Cole Allen, the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump, casing the Washington Hilton and then charging through a security checkpoint with a long-barreled gun. The video shows Allen shooting a Secret Service officer during the attack at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The footage also appears to show a Secret Service agent discharging his weapon three times, though Allen was not shot. He was tackled and detained. No one was killed.
Allen, 31, of California, has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president and faces up to life in prison. The video answers how he got close. It does not answer why. And for the Secret Service, the footage is a reminder of how close the country came to a different outcome.
