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By Khaleda Rahman and Jason Lemon
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A federal judge has apologized to Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the alleged assassination attempt of President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in April.
Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui made the remarks in court on Monday, after he had on Sunday raised "grave concerns" about Allen's treatment in custody. The judge had ordered a representative for the Department of Corrections to appear at the hearing.
In a brief order Sunday, Faruqui said he was concerned about Allen’s "seemingly unprompted solitary confinement for days and overall conditions of confinement." On Monday, he told the alleged wannabe assassin, "Whatever you've been through I apologize for that now."
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Newsweek has contacted attorneys for Allen and the Department of Corrections for comment via email.
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The Context
The hearing is the latest development in one of the most closely watched federal prosecutions of the year.
Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, is accused of trying to storm the White House Correspondents' Association dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 25 in a bid to kill Trump. He was apprehended when he tried to race past security barricades near the hotel’s ballroom, prompting an exchange of gunfire with Secret Service agents tasked with safeguarding the event, investigators say. The president was not injured and a Secret Service officer wearing a bullet-resistant vest was shot in the vest and survived.
Allen faces life in prison if convicted of the attempted assassination count alone.
What To Know
Faruqui rejected a request to vacate Monday’s scheduled hearing after Allen’s attorneys had sought to withdraw a motion seeking to take him off suicide watch. During the hearing, the judge said that the suspect is "being treated differently than anyone I’ve ever observed," comparing his treatment to terrorists, gang members and others charged with political violence.
The judge also compared Allen to defendants in cases tied to the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. "Watching what I would say seems to be … analogous conduct—people allegedly trying to harm elected officials based on their political beliefs, the way that things are playing out [for Allen] is vastly different," he said.
Some were quick to blast the judge's apology on social media.
"DC judges are an absolute JOKE. The man who attempted to KlLL PRESIDENT TRUMP doesn't like his cell conditions?! Tell him to go f*** himself," Nick Sortor, a conservative influencer with over 1.5 million followers on X, posted.
Collin Rugg, co-owner of Trending Politics, wrote to his 2.4 million X followers that "these judges are absolutely insane and belong in prison."
Weekend Court Filings in Cole Allen Case
In a filing on Sunday, Allen’s attorneys said the request was moot since they have learned that Allen is "no longer on suicide status" at the Correctional Treatment Facility at the D.C. jail complex.
But Faruqui said in a brief order later on Sunday that Monday’s hearing would go ahead.
"The Court has grave concerns about the defendants seemingly unprompted solitary confinement for days and overall conditions of confinement," the order said.
"As such the parties and a representative of the Department of Corrections shall appear in Courtroom 4 at noon on May 4, 2026 to explain the conditions of confinement."
It comes after another magistrate judge on Wednesday ordered the jail to allow Allen to have unrestricted visits with his lawyers after his attorneys complained they had not been able to meet with him privately.
Allen "was forced to sit inside of a locked cage in full, five-point restraints, and speak over a phone—of which there is only one— to be able to confer with counsel," Allen's attorneys wrote in a filing. "Counsel were forced to sit in an open lobby area with jail staff and other attorneys standing nearby who could overhear the entirety of counsel’s side of the conversation."
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said on Sunday that authorities have evidence Allen shot a federal agent during the incident.
"We now can establish that a pellet that came from the buckshot from the defendant's Mossberg pump-action shotgun was intertwined with the fiber of the vest of the Secret Service officer," Pirro said on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday. "It is definitively his bullet."
Allen was injured during the incident but was not shot, and the Secret Service agent survived.
Pirro’s disclosure strengthens the government’s narrative that Allen fired directly at law enforcement during the incident, a key element in supporting the most serious charges filed in the case. Allen has not yet entered a plea to charges filed in the case, and his attorneys have questioned aspects of the government’s evidence.
On Thursday, Pirro shared a video on social media showing Allen sprinting through a security checkpoint outside the dinner.
"There is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire. The video also shows Allen casing the area in the Hilton Hotel the day before the attack," Pirro wrote alongside the video on X. "My office along with the @FBI will continue this extensive investigation to bring Cole Allen to justice."
The Charges Against Allen
Allen has been charged with attempted assassination of the president, as well as two additional firearms counts, including discharging a weapon during a crime of violence.
He has agreed to remain in custody while awaiting trial and has not yet entered a plea, according to court documents.
That came after prosecutors released new evidence against Allen last week, including a selfie taken in his room at the Hilton shortly before the alleged attempt on Trump's life.
The photo shows Allen dressed in black pants, a black shirt and a red tie with an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife and was taken minutes before Allen tried to storm the dinner, the government wrote in a court filing last week.
The government also said Allen had repeatedly made online checks to keep track of Trump’s status that night, including live coverage of the president exiting his vehicle at the hotel.
Tezira Abe, a member of the defense team, has said he "is presumed innocent at this time," The Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
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