Transcript
A (0:00)
Foreign.
B (0:04)
Hey there. It's the NPR Politics podcast. I'm Miles Parks. I cover voting.
C (0:08)
I'm Ryan Lucas. I cover the Justice Department.
D (0:10)
And I'm Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent.
B (0:13)
We are recording this at 2:27pm Eastern Time on Monday, April 27, 2026. Today on the show, what more do we know about the man who charged the security perimeter at the White House correspondence dinner on Saturday night and opened fire. The Secret Service tackled him. But during the chaotic few minutes that follow, President Trump, the first lady and several cabinet members were rushed out of the building. The Justice Department has identified the gunman as 31 year old Cole Allen from California. And Ryan Allen was in court today. What is he being charged with?
C (0:46)
That's right. I actually just left the courtroom where he made his initial appearance. He walked in. He was wearing blue prison garb, sat down at the defense table with two public defenders who had been appointed by the court to defend him. Now, the magistrate judge read out the counts against him. He said there are three total. One of them is attempt to assassinate the president. That carries a potential maximum sentence of life in prison. Second count is transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce for a felony. That's up to 10 years in prison. That's the potential sentence there if he's convicted. And then the third count was discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. So as of now, just to kind of summarize, he's been charged by criminal complaint, faces three counts. Those are the three counts against him. He is being held for now. He will remain in custody and a detention hearing is scheduled for Thursday. It's important to say that the complaint as of this moment is still sealed. So I have not seen it. The judge ordered it to be unsealed, but sometimes it takes a little bit of time. So what we know, not having seen that charging document yet, is largely based off what Justice Department officials have said, primarily Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. He said Alan traveled from Los Angeles to Chicago by train and then from Chicago to Washington, D.C. by train. He stayed at the Hilton Hotel in Washington. That is the same hotel where the White House correspondent's dinner takes place. So he had a room at the hotel on Saturday night, the night that the incident happened. He had a shotgun, a 12 gauge pump action shotgun with him as well as a handgun and three knives. That's according to the Justice Department. And that's most of the picture that we have received thus far from the government. They also said it's important to add that they Believe, based on the preliminary information thus far, the evidence that they've collected in the investigation to this point, that his intention was to target administration officials. That's what we know as of now. But again, there will likely be more information in the criminal complaint when we get a look at it.
