September 2027 trial date set for charged White House correspondents' dinner attacker

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Thursday set a September 2027 trial date for a man charged with attempting to kill President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner earlier this year.

Cole Tomas Allen's trial is scheduled to start with jury selection on Sept. 7 in Washington, D.C., and is expected to last approximately three to four weeks. Prosecutors had recommended starting the trial in May 2027, but U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden set the later date after one of Allen's attorneys asked for more time to prepare.

Allen, of Torrance, California, is accused of storming the WHCA dinner while armed with guns and knives and firing a shotgun at a Secret Service officer who tried to stop the April 25, 2026, attack at the Washington Hilton hotel. The officer, who was struck once in a bullet-resistant vest, fired five shots but didn't hit anybody, authorities said. Allen was injured but not from gunfire.

The attack led to an early end to one of the highest-profile annual events in the nation's capital. President Donald Trump returned to speak at the rescheduled dinner three months later.

In writings that he sent to relatives before the attack, Allen railed against Trump administration policies and referred to himself as a "Friendly Federal Assassin," authorities said.

Allen faces an attempted assassination charge that carries a maximum possible sentence of life in prison. He also is charged with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon and two additional firearms counts.