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 begin with jury selection on September 7 in Washington, DC, and is expected to last approximately three to four weeks.
Prosecutors had recommended starting the trial in May 2027, but US District Judge Trevor McFadden set a later date after one of Allen's attorneys asked for more time to prepare.
Allen, of Torrance, California, is accused of storming the dinner while armed with guns and knives and firing a shotgun at a Secret Service officer who tried to stop the attack on April 25, 2026, at the Washington Hilton hotel. The officer was struck once in a bullet-resistant vest and fired five shots but did not hit anyone, authorities said. Allen was injured, but not by gunfire.
The attack brought one of the highest-profile annual events in the nation's capital to an early end. Trump returned to speak at the rescheduled dinner three months later.
In writings 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 is also charged with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon and two additional firearms counts.