QUICK SUMMARY: Last Monday, a federal affidavit unsealed the Cole Tomas Allen manifesto, which gave glimpses of the shooter’s mindset. It listed Trump administration officials as priority targets. Allen called himself a “friendly federal assassin” throughout the letter he sent to his family. He framed the attack as his religious duty and excluded hotel guests, Capitol Police, and National Guard from his target list.
The federal affidavit unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia quoted the manifesto Cole Tomas Allen sent to his family ten minutes before he stormed the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The court filing was submitted by the acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s office and is now part of the public record.
What the Cole Tomas Allen Manifesto Revealed
In the email Allen scheduled to send shortly before the attack, he wrote: “On to why I did any of this: I am a citizen of the United States of America. What my representatives do reflects on me. And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.“
The affidavit listed “Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel)” as “targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.” Allen specified rules of engagement excluding hotel security, Capitol Police, National Guard, hotel employees, and dinner guests as primary targets. Secret Service agents were listed as targets only “if necessary, and to be incapacitated nonlethally if possible.”
Allen called himself a “friendly federal assassin” in the message sent to family members.
He framed the attack in religious terms: “Turning the other cheek when someone else is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes.“
Three documented assassination attempts against Donald Trump have happened in 21 months. Butler, Pennsylvania in July 2024. Trump International Golf Club in Florida in September 2024. The Washington Hilton on April 25, 2026. The first two carried no recovered manifesto with a target list. This one is different.
What Mainstream Outlets Are Leaving Out
Within hours of the shooting on Saturday night, former President Barack Obama posted on X: “Although we don’t yet have the details about the motives behind last night’s shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, it’s incumbent upon all us to reject the idea that violence has any place in our democracy.” The post was viewed nearly 52 million times before the manifesto’s contents became public the next day.
NBC News initial coverage characterized Allen’s writings as “anti-Trump sentiment” without quoting the prioritized target list. Reason described the document as a “rambling manifesto” and led readers to the Venezuelan boat strikes and Iranian school grievances Allen referenced. The “pedophile, rapist, and traitor” line and the “friendly federal assassin” self-description did not appear in its summary.
The collision happened on camera Sunday night. Norah O’Donnell read Allen’s “pedophile, rapist, and traitor” line aloud to Trump during a 60 Minutes interview. Trump pushed back: “I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would. You’re horrible people. I’m not any of those things. You should be ashamed of yourself reading that. You shouldn’t be reading that on ’60 Minutes.’ You’re a disgrace, but, go ahead, let’s finish the interview.“
The document exists. Each outlet is choosing which parts of it to quote and which parts to leave out.
The Pattern Underneath the Coverage
After the Butler attempt, the Crooks shooting was framed within weeks as a story about personal grievances and mental health. After the Florida attempt, the Routh case was framed as a lone actor with a confused political profile. The motive question was treated as complicated in both cases.
This time, the motive is on paper. Cole Tomas Allen wrote it down, listed his targets in priority order, and emailed it to his family ten minutes before the attack. The affidavit quoted it directly.
What gets called what from here is an editorial choice each newsroom is making in real time. AMAC framed the dynamic this week: “There is no question that the broader liberal establishment, and particularly the corporate media, are responsible” for what they called the cultural undercurrent of violence directed at Trump and his supporters.
The document is in the affidavit. The framing is in the editing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in the Cole Tomas Allen manifesto that has been made public?
The unsealed federal affidavit contained a prioritized target list of Trump administration officials, language directed at the president personally, and a self-description as a “friendly federal assassin.” The document also included religious framing about complicity and rules of engagement excluding most categories of bystanders from primary targeting.
Where can the public read the Cole Tomas Allen manifesto?
The complete Cole Tomas Allen manifesto has yet to be released to the public. However, Selected excerpts were quoted in the federal affidavit unsealed April 27, 2026 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The filing is available through PACER. The Department of Justice also issued a press release on Monday with associated court filings that included weapons photos.
Why are some outlets quoting the manifesto selectively?
Each newsroom decides which excerpts to publish. Some outlets have led with Allen’s grievances about Venezuelan boat strikes and Iranian school strikes. The prioritized target list and the language directed at the president personally have been omitted from several summaries.
How does this attempt compare to the 2024 Butler and Florida assassination attempts?
Allen is the first of the three to leave a documented written target list filed in federal court. Thomas Crooks, the Butler shooter, was killed at the scene and left no recovered manifesto. Florida shooting suspect Ryan Routh was apprehended without firing and was convicted to life without parole in September 2025
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