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By Adeola Adeosun
Weekend Night Editor
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Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect arrested in the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner, has been linked to a political group called "The Wide Awakes," the New York Post first reported and is believed to have attended a "No Kings" protest in California, where he attended college and worked as a teacher.
Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, faces charges of two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of assault on an officer using a dangerous weapon after breaching security at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night and shooting a law enforcement agent who was not seriously injured.
Allen's sister told Secret Service and Montgomery County Police on Sunday her brother often made "radical statements" and frequently referenced a plan to do "something" to fix what he saw as problems in the country, adding he was part of "The Wide Awakes."
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The "Wide Awakes" name has been used by multiple unrelated movements over time — including a Civil War-era political organization, an artist-led civic engagement project that has been inactive for years, and a current network of anti-ICE noise protests organized by progressive groups — and it is not yet clear which, if any, Allen was specifically affiliated with.
Who Is Cole Allen?
Allen was a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer opposed to the policies of Trump, the Associated Press reported. Allen earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena in 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile. While at Caltech, he was involved in a campus Nerf gun club and a Christian student fellowship. He worked for the past six years at C2 Education, a company offering admissions counseling and test preparation, and was named the company's Teacher of the Month in 2024. He also developed video games on the Steam platform.
Newsweek reached out to C2 Education via email for comment.
Bin Tang, a computer science professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills, told the AP Allen took several of his classes before graduating in 2025. "He was a very good student indeed, always sitting in the first row of my class, paying attention, and frequently emailing me with coursework questions," Tang wrote. "Soft-spoken, very polite, a good fellow. I am very shocked to see the news."
A local ABC station in Los Angeles interviewed Allen during his senior year at Caltech for a story about technologies to help aging adults—he had developed a prototype for an emergency brake for wheelchairs.
Law enforcement officials told the AP that Allen legally purchased a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol in October 2023 and a 12-gauge shotgun last year. Security guards at his family church kept reporters away during Sunday services.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche also said officials believe the suspect traveled by train from California to Chicago and then on to Washington, DC, where he checked in as a guest to the hotel. "We’re still investigating a motive, " he said, which could take a couple of days at the least.
Authorities say he left a manifesto in which he ranked potential targets.
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Who Are The Wide Awakes?
The original Wide Awakes were a Republican political organization founded in Hartford, Connecticut, on March 3, 1860, dedicated to electing Lincoln to the presidency, according to the National Park Service (NPS). Founded by five young law clerks, the group took its name to symbolize their political awareness. What distinguished the Wide Awakes from other 19th-century political clubs was their youth, effectiveness, and distinctive uniforms—kepi hats, capes made of enameled canvas, and large kerosene lamps carried during pro-Lincoln torchlight parades. Members ranged in age from 15 to 40, making it one of the first political organizations formed by, of, and for young Americans.
The Wide Awakes were a political curiosity in the North but viewed with suspicion and fear in the South, where newspapers exaggerated the group's paramilitary aspects. Their largest event was the Grand Procession parade in New York City—the biggest pro-Lincoln rally in the U.S., with thousands of members traveling from across the country to participate. The parade took over two hours to pass. After Lincoln's election on November 6, 1860, many Wide Awakes shifted their activism to enlisting in the U.S. Army at the outbreak of the Civil War.
The Wide Awakes Name Has Been Used by Multiple, Unrelated Groups
The "Wide Awakes" name has been adopted by several distinct movements over the past 165 years, and it is critical to distinguish between them. In 2020, an artist-led civic engagement project also called the Wide Awakes was launched as a series of open-source artworks and one-time activations, with creative contributions from artists including Hank Willis Thomas, Eric Gottesman, José Parlá and Wildcat Ebony Brown. That project has been inactive for years.
A representative for Hank Willis Thomas Studio told Newsweek on Monday the studio had "never heard of Cole Allen" prior to the shooting, that Allen "has never had any affiliation" with the artists, and that the 2020 Wide Awakes project should not be conflated with other groups using the same name. "The Wide Awakes are not an organization and have been inactive for years," Christina Caputo, partnerships and communications lead for Hank Willis Thomas Studio, said. "It is also important to clarify that 'Wide Awakes' is a term used by multiple groups and movements over time, many of which draw inspiration from the original 1860 Wide Awakes."
A spokesperson for Amplifier — the Seattle-based art and design nonprofit that produced visual materials for the 2020 project — separately told Newsweek on Sunday that Amplifier had no record of Allen and had never heard of him before the shooting. "We had never heard of Cole Allen before yesterday and he has never had any affiliation with our organization," the spokesperson said.
A separate, currently active network using the "Wide Awakes" name organizes "Wide Awake" anti-ICE noise demonstrations outside hotels where federal agents are reportedly staying, according to the Hudson Star-Observer, which covered one such event in February 2026. Those protests are co-organized by the Sunrise Movement and Climate Defiance — both progressive activist networks. Demonstrators have used live music, electric guitars and chants outside hotels, with the explicit goal of making ICE "know that they can't hide in another state," one protester told the newspaper. The Sunrise Movement's "ICE Out" campaign has used the "Wide Awakes" framing as part of broader anti-ICE organizing.
It is unclear which, if any, of these "Wide Awakes" Allen was actually affiliated with.
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Allen's Anti-Trump Politics
Allen's online presence and political activity show a clear opposition to Trump dating back at least to the 2024 presidential election.
According to federal campaign finance records, Allen contributed $25 to a Democratic Party political action committee supporting Vice President Kamala Harris for president. A yard sign at his family home supported a local candidate for judge endorsed by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party. The New York Post reported Allen is believed to have attended a "No Kings" protest in California, a movement that opposes what organizers describe as authoritarian tendencies in the Trump administration.
Allen's father, Thomas, is listed as an elder at Grace United Reformed Church Torrance, a "Bible-believing church"—a notable detail given the explicitly anti-Christian rhetoric in the manifesto.
Trump Invokes Abraham Lincoln in Response
Trump invoked Lincoln during his White House press briefing after the shooting—the same Lincoln whose election the original Wide Awakes were founded to support.
When asked by Fox News' Peter Doocy why he keeps being targeted, Trump compared himself directly to Lincoln:
"I've studied people like Abraham Lincoln. It's the people that make the biggest impact, they're the ones that they go after," Trump said. "When you look at the people that have either, whether it was an attempt or a successful attempt, they're very impactful people. Just take a look at the names here. The big names. And, I hate to say I'm honored by that, but I've done a lot."
He continued: "We've taken this country, and we were a laughingstock for years, and now we're the hottest country anywhere in the world. We've changed this country. And there are a lot of people that are not happy about that."
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Cole Allen's Manifesto: What He Wrote
A White House official confirmed to Newsweek that Allen sent a manifesto to his family minutes before opening fire at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night. The document, which the official described as full of anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric, "clearly" stated Allen wanted to target administration officials. Trump referenced the manifesto during a Fox News interview Sunday morning, calling Allen "a sick guy" and saying the document made clear Allen "hates Christians." Trump said the manifesto would be released later.
In the document, Allen framed the attack as an act of political opposition to the Trump administration, identifying senior administration officials as his primary targets and listing them "from highest-ranking to lowest." He outlined what he called "rules of engagement," writing that Secret Service agents were targets only if necessary and should be "incapacitated non-lethally if possible," and that hotel security, Capitol Police, hotel employees and guests were not targets. He said he chose to use buckshot rather than slugs to minimize wall penetration and casualties.
The manifesto referenced grievances Allen attributed to the Trump administration, including alleged abuses against detainees and civilians abroad. Allen, who described himself in the document as "half-black, half-white," signed off using the same self-styled nickname "Friendly Federal Assassin"—that law enforcement officials told the AP he had used in writings sent to family before the attack. Allen also wrote at length about what he described as inadequate security at the Washington Hilton, expressing surprise at how easily he was able to enter the hotel armed. The manifesto's tone shifted between formal, philosophical and conversational sections, including thanks to family, colleagues, students and friends.
What Happens Next
Allen made his first court appearance Monday after being charged in a federal criminal complaint with three serious offenses, including attempted assassination of the president. According to an FBI affidavit filed, Allen faces charges of attempting to assassinate the president of the United States under 18 U.S.C. § 1751(c); transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony under 18 U.S.C. § 924(b); and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(iii).
The affidavit revealed that Allen booked his hotel room at the Washington Hilton on April 6 — three weeks before the attack — and traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago to Washington, D.C. between April 21 and April 24. He checked into the hotel the day before the dinner. The affidavit also confirmed that Allen scheduled his manifesto email to send automatically at the moment of the attack and that he invoked his right to remain silent after being read his Miranda rights.
Update 4/26/26, 11:18 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and statement from Amplifier.
Update: Correction (April 27, 2026): An earlier version of this article incorrectly suggested that Cole Allen was affiliated with the 2020 Wide Awakes artist-led civic engagement project, which has been inactive for years. The "Wide Awakes" name has been used by multiple unrelated groups, including a current network of anti-ICE protests co-organized by the Sunrise Movement and Climate Defiance. There is no evidence that Allen was affiliated with the artists associated with the 2020 project, including Hank Willis Thomas, Eric Gottesman, José Parlá or Wildcat Ebony Brown.
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