WHCD Suspected Shooter Cole Tomas Allen Pleads Not Guilty to Attempting to Assassinate Donald Trump While Wearing Shackles in Court

Cole Tomas Allen, the man accused of trying to assassinate Donald Trump at the April 25 White House Correspondents' Dinner, pleaded not guilty on the morning of Monday, May 11.

Allen, who was seen wearing shackles around his wrists, was hit with four felony charges: attempt to assassinate the President of the United States, assaulting an officer of the United States with a deadly weapon, transportation of a firearm and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

He could face life in prison if convicted.

As OK! reported, Allen, 31, allegedly traveled from California to Washington, D.C., and had knives and guns on him when he tried to breach security outside the Washington Hilton hotel's ballroom.

Though one Secret Service officer was shot, no other injuries were reported, and he was apprehended before he could enter the ballroom. Trump and everyone else attending the gala were safely escorted out.

In Allen's alleged manifesto, he referred to himself as the "Friendly Federal Assassin" and said he was targeting "administration officials (not including [FBI Director Kash] Patel)."

"I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes," Allen explained of what motivated his alleged actions, seemingly referring to Trump. "In order to minimize casualties, I will also be using buckshot rather than slugs (less penetration through walls). I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people *chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn’t come to that."

In a Truth Social post following the ordeal, the POTUS, 79, called Allen a "very sick person."

"[The] gunman was taken down by brave members of the Secret Service. I put out the tape showing this violence that this thug attacked our Constitution. They really did a great job," he penned. "One officer was shot but saved by the fact that he was wearing a very good bulletproof vest. The vest did the job. I spoke to the officer, and he's in great shape. He's in very high spirits. We told him we love him and respect him, and he's very proud of what he does."

"We need a level of security that no one has seen before," Trump added. "You see the attacker totally subdued."

"This is not the first time the Republicans have been attacked by a would-be assassin. In Pennsylvania and Palm Beach, we came close," the businessman noted, referring to the two other times he was targeted. "We had some great work done by law enforcement, but in light of this evening's events, we commit to resolving our differences peacefully."