BREAKING: Cole Allen pleads not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate President Trump

Cole Allen pleaded "not guilty" in federal court on Monday to the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump. Allen was apprehended at the Washington Hilton after he rushed past a Secret Service check-point and opened fire outside the ballroom where Trump, Cabinet members, and hundreds of members of the press were sitting down to the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Allen, 31, faces life in prison if convicted. He has been charged with a several counts, including assault on law enforcement, transporting a firearm across state lines to commit a felony and discharging a weapon during a crime of violence. He is alleged to have traveled from his home in California across the country via rail to DC with the express purpose of undertaking an assassination attempt. The Department of Justice under the direction of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and brought the case against Allen. 

Allen, who worked as a tutor and has a degree from CalTech from California, was being kept on suicide watch after the April 25 incident. Secret Service agents fired upon Allen after he unleashed a volley. An anti-Trump manifesto was recovered from Allen's email which he sent to family members about 10 minutes before the attack took place. 

It said in part, "I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes. (Well, to be completely honest, I was no longer willing a long time ago, but this is the first real opportunity I’ve had to do something about it.)"

"While I’m discussing this, I’ll also go over my expected rules of engagement (probably in a terrible format, but I’m not military so too bad.)," he added in the missive. "Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest. Secret Service: they are targets only if necessary, and to be incapacitated non-lethally if possible (aka, I hope they’re wearing body armor because center mass with shotguns messes up people who *aren’t*."

He noted that he would be using "buckshot rather than slugs" to "minimize casualties" in the attack. Allen’s attorneys have argued that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as well as DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro should be recused from the case as they were in attendance at the event, per the New York Post. The lawyers have alleged that Blanche and Pirro have a conflict of interest in the case, and could be viewed as potential witnesses. 
 

During the rampage, Allen allegedly shot a Secret Service agent in the chest, but the bullet was stopped by a bulletproof vest.