Man accused in White House correspondents' dinner shooting charged with terrorism
Cole Tomas Allen is facing a new charge of terrorism.
Cole Tomas Allen, the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in April, is facing a new charge of terrorism, according to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Allen was already charged with attempting to kill Trump and three other charges, but the new charge unsealed in a superseding indictment on Thursday adds a terrorism charge with not much detail.
He has pleaded not guilty to the previous charges, including attempted assassination of the president, assault on a federal law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, transportation of a firearm and ammunition over state lines with the intent to commit a felony and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. He has not yet entered a plea under the new charge.
The armed 31-year-old was tackled by law enforcement on the night of April 25 after rushing through a security checkpoint at the hotel, where thousands of journalists as well as Trump and members of his Cabinet were gathered for the annual event, according to prosecutors.
A Secret Service officer was shot and injured before Allen was subdued by agents, officials said.
In May, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeannie Pirro said there is "no doubt" that Allen shot a uniformed Secret Service officer.
"The grand jury agreed that there was probable cause to believe that it was Cole Allen's weapon that hit the Secret Service agent," she told ABC News' chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas.
Allen allegedly wrote that administration officials were his targets, according to a criminal complaint.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
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