White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting suspect Cole Allen pleads not guilty

The man accused of opening fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner has officially pleaded not guilty.

Cole Allen was in federal court on Monday for his arraignment, The Associated Press reported.

He is charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump, assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon, and two firearms counts, the Department of Justice said last week.

Allen did not speak during the hearing, as his attorney entered the not guilty plea on his behalf, the AP reported.

A Secret Service officer was hit once in a bulletproof vest in the April 25 shooting. He was injured but survived. The officer fired five times but did not hit him. Allen was arrested after he fell to the ground. He did have an injury to his knee, but not from a gunshot, the DOJ said.

“Shortly after 8:30 p.m., the defendant approached a U.S. Secret Service (USSS) security screening checkpoint located on the Terrace Level of the hotel and sprinted through one of the magnetometers at the checkpoint and ran in the direction of the stairs leading to the ballroom where the President was located,” the DOJ said in the announcement of charges.

The department said Allen fired a Mossberg Maverick 88 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38 caliber pistol, dozens of rounds for both weapons, two knives, and four daggers, among other items.

Allen’s attorneys had earlier asked the court to disqualify several Justice Department officials because the defense said there is a conflict of interest. Jeanie Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche were at the event when the shooting occurred, CNN reported.

Pirro’s office announced the charges against Allen and both were quoted in the news release.

“As this case proceeds closer to trial, the country and the world will continue to wonder — how can the American justice system permit a victim to prosecute a criminal defendant in a case involving them?” defense attorneys Eugene Ohm and Tezira Abe wrote in last week’s filing, the AP reported.

The judge did not rule on the request during Monday’s brief hearing but did ask for more information on the request, the AP said.