[Photo Credit: Reuters]
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the suspect accused of trying to attack administration officials at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner had an anti-Christian manifesto and “a lot of hatred in his heart” but was stopped well short of the hotel ballroom hosting the event.
Trump told Fox News that the suspect was “a sick guy” and that his family previously expressed concerns about him to law enforcement officials. The suspect, whom an official identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, of Torrance, California, was arrested at the scene of the event in Washington, D.C.
The manifesto was sent to Allen’s family members shortly before the attack, a law enforcement official told Reuters. In it, the suspect called himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin,” the official said.
Targets listed in the manifesto included administration officials — although not FBI Director Kash Patel — prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest, the official said.
The manifesto mocked the “insane” lack of security at the Washington Hilton, where the dinner was held, the official added.
The chaotic events raised fresh questions about the security of top U.S. officials, many of whom were gathered in the hotel’s expansive ballroom. Trump seized on the attention brought by the incident to promote his planned White House ballroom as a safer, more secure alternative for such events.
The suspect traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington, checking into the Hilton on Friday, acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said on multiple Sunday talk shows, adding that Trump and top members of his administration were the likely targets. Train passengers in the United States are not required to pass through airport-style metal detectors.
