(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A superseding indictment was filed Thursday against Cole Tomas Allen, the man accused of trying to kill President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in April.
The new indictment adds “Act of Terrorism While Armed” to the list of charges Allen faces. He was already indicted in May for allegedly trying to assassinate Trump and assaulting a Secret Service agent with a shotgun. The new indictment says he tried to kill Trump “with the intent to influence policy and conduct of a unit of government.”
The new indictment doesn’t explain how exactly Allen wanted to influence government policy by killing Trump. A report from DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis, dated April 27, found that Allen possessed “multiple social and political grievances.” Analysts concluded the Iran conflict “may have contributed to his decision to conduct the attack,” pointing to Allen’s social media posts attacking U.S. military operations.
NEW: A superseding indictment was filed against alleged White House Correspondents Dinner attacker Cole Allen yesterday — adding terrorism to the list of charges he faces.
Not many details, but this might be due to the fact that he was purportedly motivated to attack because of… https://t.co/SfRqg9Sqaw pic.twitter.com/gVA0IEphEr
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) November 13, 2026
Meanwhile, Allen’s lawyers have disputed the allegation that their client shot a Secret Service agent during his attack.
Lawyers for Allen say there’s no solid evidence that their client shot the agent. Video evidence doesn’t show Allen firing his shotgun, and the forensic evidence is sketchy at best, they said in a court filing last month.
According to Allen’s lawyers, the DOJ provided them with several initial forensic reports in July, including Ballistics and Toolmark Reports; Metallurgy Report; FTIR analysis; Trace Evidence Analysis of fragments and fibers; Lab Report analysis of Trace, hair and fibers; fingerprint reports; and DNA reports. The DOJ then provided the defense with more reports on Oct. 1.
🚨In the wake of the White House Correspondents Dinner attack, there were reports that a Secret Service agent was hit by friendly fire. The DOJ says Cole Allen is the one who shot the agent, but Allen's lawyers are now casting doubt on the forensic evidence underpinning that… https://t.co/2lRtQSULjq pic.twitter.com/RDmOt5GiUV
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) October 22, 2026
The defense lawyers said they hired their own forensic science expert to review the reports, and that the evidence doesn’t support the DOJ’s opinion that Cole shot the Secret Service agent. Rather, the DOJ’s opinion is “based on controversial science drawn from conclusions from facts that do not appear to exist in this case,” they said.
The defense asked a judge to set a scheduling order, which would require the DOJ to notify them about the expert witnesses that it intends to use. The DOJ has yet to respond.
A status hearing for the case is set for Dec. 4.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
