A federal grand jury has added a District of Columbia terrorism count to the case against Cole Tomas Allen over the April shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
The five-count superseding indictment was unsealed on 13 November in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. It adds an allegation of committing an act of terrorism while armed, based on the alleged attempted first-degree murder of President Donald Trump.
Allen, 31, had already been charged with attempting to assassinate the President, assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon, transporting a firearm and ammunition across state lines with intent to commit a felony, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
According to the indictment account released by prosecutors, Allen approached a Secret Service checkpoint at the Washington Hilton on 25 April, ran through a magnetometer and fired a 12-gauge shotgun while moving toward the ballroom. A Secret Service officer was struck in the chest. The officer returned fire, and Allen was restrained and arrested.
Prosecutors said officers recovered the shotgun, a pistol, ammunition and several knives. Those assertions describe the government’s evidence and remain allegations to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
The new D.C.-code count carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. A maximum is not a forecast of sentence, and no punishment can be imposed on the added count unless there is a conviction by plea or verdict.
The superseding indictment changes the formal charges but does not decide guilt. Allen is entitled to contest the allegations, the admissibility of evidence and the government’s legal characterisation of the conduct before the trial court.
