Alleged attacker charged with attempted assassination of Trump

By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

The man accused of storming the White House Correspondents’ Associations Dinner has been charged with the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump.

Cole Tomas Allen appeared in federal court on Monday in Washington, D.C., after being take into custody on Saturday following the shooting. Allen faced three charges including attempted assassination, transporting firearms across state lines and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Allen, a resident of Torrance, California, appeared in court Monday. He did not enter a plea during the brief hearing. He is beleived to have traveled by train from California to Chicago and then onto Washington, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said.

The charge of attempting to assassinate a sitting U.S. president carries as much as life in prison, if convicted. Discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence also carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years if convicted.