Family members of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooter had alerted the police regarding anti-Trump, anti-Christian rhetoric shared on the suspect’s social media accounts prior to the attempted attack, according to a CBS News report on Sunday.
California resident Cole Tomas Allen was identified as the suspected perpetrator of the shooting by law enforcement and was taken into custody shortly after the incident.
Family members of Allen’s who were interviewed by investigators after the attack stated that Allen frequently made radical statements, referencing a vague plan to do “something” to fix issues in the world.
Allen’s family also told law enforcement that he frequently trained with firearms at a local shooting range.
According to the report, 31-year-old Allen had previously shared writings with family members, leading one relative to alert law enforcement regarding their contents.
A senior US official told CBS that the suspect’s writings, some of which reference targeting Trump administration officials, are currently being reviewed by investigators.
Additional writings were found in the hotel room Allen was staying at when he carried out the attack. Three federal law enforcement officials told CBS that the handwritten materials were being looked at as part of the investigation into Allen’s motive for the shooting.
US President Donald Trump, the suspected target of the attempted attack, confirmed to Fox News that Allen had left behind a manifesto.
“He hates Christians. That’s one thing for sure,” Trump claimed of Allen. “So he was a very troubled guy… And I think his sister or his brother actually was complaining about it. They were even complaining to law enforcement.”
“We can’t let these criminals and these really bad people change the course of events in our country,” he asserted, adding that he hopes the Correspondents’ Dinner can be rescheduled within the next 30 days.
Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday that Allen will be charged in federal court on Monday with assault of a federal officer and discharging a firearm in an attempt to kill a federal officer.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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