Engineer, tutor, ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’: The man behind the attack on Trump

Team TOI PlusTIMESOFINDIA.COM
Apr 28, 2026 | 13:53 IST

Officials found a document written to family members hours before the attack and multiple social media posts indicating the gunman’s opposition to Trump’s policies

Cole Tomas Allen was a highly educated engineer, a tutor, an amateur video game developer, and on Saturday became the latest to try to attack US President Donald Trump. Allen, who was captured by security personnel at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, wrote to family members before the attack, in which he referred to himself as a ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’.

A social media profile for a man - with the same name and a photo as Allen - shows that he worked part-time for the last six years at a company that offers admissions counselling and test preparation services to aspiring college students.
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