Cole Thomas Allen, the 31-year-old teacher arrested for opening fire at a White House dinner had claimed that he entered the venue with weapons undetected, mocking the Secret Service for “arrogance”.
The man accused of attempting to target senior US (United States) administration officials during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner claimed in a manifesto that he was able to enter the Washington Hilton hotel with multiple weapons without being stopped, raising questions about security arrangements at the venue.
According to reports, 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen, a California based educationist, sent a 1,052-word manifesto to his family around 10 minutes before the attack attempt on Saturday.
In the document, Allen criticised what he described as a complete lack of security at the hotel, where the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was being held with senior government officials, journalists and political figures in attendance.
“Like, I expected security cameras at every bend, bugged hotel rooms, armed agents every 10 feet, metal detectors out the wazoo,” he wrote.
“What I got is nothing. No damn security. Not in transport. Not in the hotel. Not in the event”.
Allen claimed that he walked into the hotel carrying multiple weapons and said no one questioned him.
“I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat,” he wrote.
He further alleged that security was focused outside the venue on protesters and arriving guests, while little attention was given to those who had checked in earlier.
“The security at the event is all outside, focused on protestors and current arrivals, because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before,” he stated.
Calling the arrangements “actually insane,” Allen wrote that if he had been “an Iranian agent” instead of “an American citizen,” he could have brought in heavier weapons without being noticed.
“If I was an Iranian agent instead of an American citizen, I could have brought a damn Ma Deuce in here and no one would have noticed,” he wrote.
Authorities said that Allen was arrested before he could reach the hotel ballroom. He was carrying a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives, according to D.C. Metropolitan Police.
The manifesto also outlined his plan to target officials in President Donald Trump’s administration, while explicitly excluding FBI Director Kash Patel.
“Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” he wrote.
Allen said that he chose buckshot instead of slugs in an effort to reduce collateral casualties and said guests and hotel employees were not intended targets.
“In order to minimize casualties I will also be using buckshot rather than slugs,” he stated.
