WATCH: Todd Blanche Details Charges Against Shooter and Event Timeline - 04/27/26

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Good afternoon, everybody. Thanks for being here.

[00:00:05]On Saturday night, as you all know, an act of violence occurred at a gathering that symbolizes something fundamental to our system of government.

[00:00:15]The ability of a free press and public officials to come together in celebration and not fear.

[00:00:21]The act was stopped because of the courage and it was Excuse me. That act that horrible act was stopped because of the courage and professionalism of law enforcement.

[00:00:32]The officers who responded without hesitation and did their jobs as they were trained to do.

[00:00:39]Secret Service agents promptly tackled and detained the suspect, Cole Thomas Allen.

[00:00:46]The president and all the protectees and participants at the dinner were safe.

[00:00:53]>> [snorts] >> One brave officer was injured and is receiving care and has been released from the hospital.

[00:01:02]I want to make this clear.

[00:01:05]This man was a floor above the ballroom with hundreds of federal agents between him and the president of the United States.

[00:01:17]The Department of Justice approaches incidents like this with urgency and clarity of purpose.

[00:01:23]Violence has no place in civic life. It cannot and will not be used to disrupt democratic institutions or intimidate those who serve them and it certainly cannot continue to be used against the president of the United States.

[00:01:40]We are investigating this matter fully.

[00:01:44]We will apply the law fairly and we will ensure that accountability is swift and certain.

[00:01:52]But we also should recognize what did not happen. Law enforcement did not fail.

[00:01:58]They did exactly what they are trained to do.

[00:02:01]This was not an accident. It was the result, as we know now, of preparation.

[00:02:07]But the men and women who protected us that night were trained, professional, and had an enduring commitment to the rule of law.

[00:02:18]Today, the Department of Justice filed three federal charges in United States District Court against Cole Thomas Allen.

[00:02:26]The first count is attempted assassination of the president of the United States.

[00:02:31]This count is punishable by up to life in prison.

[00:02:35]The second count is interstate transportation of a firearm to commit a felony.

[00:02:40]This is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

[00:02:42]And the third count is discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, which is punishable by a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years, a maximum of life, and the 10 years is consecutive to any other sentence imposed.

[00:02:58]Just to go through very quickly the timeline, which many of you in this room already know, the defendant Allen made a hotel reservation at the Washington Hilton for April 24th through April 26th.

[00:03:15]On April 21st of this year, he traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then from Chicago to Washington, D.C.

[00:03:26]On April 24th, he arrived in Washington, D.C. at approximately 1:00 in the afternoon and checked into the Washington Hilton.

[00:03:35]Approximately, um, at 8:40 on the night of April 25th, Allen approached a security checkpoint on the terrace level of the hotel, which is again a floor above where the dinner was taking place.

[00:03:48]He ran through the magnetometer holding a long gun.

[00:03:52]As he did so, US Secret Service personnel assigned to the checkpoint heard a loud gunshot.

[00:03:59]One Secret Secret Service officer was shot in the chest, but was wearing a ballistic vest that worked.

[00:04:07]This heroic officer who was hit fired five times at Allen, who was not shot, but fell to the ground and was promptly arrested.

[00:04:18]I want to thank everybody who worked tirelessly on Saturday, Sunday, and continuing today. This includes members of the FBI and Director Patel is going to address that in a minute. It includes members of the Metropolitan Police Department who were immediately on the scene, the chief, the mayor, to make sure that law enforcement was available to do their jobs and had had all the tools they needed to do so. And lastly, um, the United States Attorney's Office here in D.C., our US Attorney Jessie Liu and her team of prosecutors stayed up all night long, didn't sleep all day yesterday making sure that we got what we needed from all over the country. It included search warrants in California, search warrants here in D.C., multiple interviews that have been conducted already of witnesses and of of family members of of the charged individual, and and continue to work hard today.

[00:05:12]This investigation is ongoing. It's not complete. A lot of the information that that the media is hearing through leaks or sources, some of it is true, some of it is not true, and at the right time you will hear information from us, um, as appropriate. I'd like to ask our US Attorney Jessie Liu to say a few words and then followed by Director Patel.

[00:05:33]Thank you.