A manifesto released shortly before a gunman tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner shows him complaining about how easily he was able to execute his plan.
The alleged gunman, identified in reports as Cole Thomas Allen, 31, was reportedly armed with a shotgun, handgun and multiple knives when he attempted to enter the ballroom Saturday at the Washington Hilton to target members of the Trump administration.
In his manifesto, as revealed by the New York Post, the California educator raged: “What the hell is the Secret Service doing?”
Allen described how he “expected security cameras at every bend, bugged hotel rooms, armed agents every 10 feet, metal detectors out the wazoo.”
Instead, he joked he might be getting “pranked,” citing “no damn security” on his cross-country train ride from California to Chicago and then to Washington D.C.—and even at the event itself.
“Like, the one thing that I immediately noticed walking into the hotel is the sense of arrogance,” he wrote. “I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat.”
The manifesto, sent to his family ten minutes before the attack, continued: “The security at the event is all outside, focused on protestors and current arrivals, because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before.”
While Donald Trump and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche have heaped praise on the evening’s security, Allen offered a different assessment.
“Like, this level of incompetence is insane, and I very sincerely hope it’s corrected by the time this country gets actually competent leadership again,” he raged.
Allen theorized that he could have been “an Iranian agent” with a Ma Deuce machine gun, and “no one would have noticed s--t.” He concluded: “Actually insane.”
Allen is set to be charged Monday with one count each of using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.
One of Allen’s neighbors in Torrance, California, told the Daily Beast that he couldn’t recall ever seeing Allen have friends over at his house, and noted that he mostly only ever saw Allen in passing, going to and from the house.
During an appearance on State of the Union Sunday, Blanche shared that the alleged shooter was not “cooperating right now,” with law enforcement. Meanwhile, Trump told Fox News that Allen was a “sick” and “very troubled” guy.
