The filing says the 31-year-old Torrance, California, man planned to assassinate President Donald Trump and target senior officials. But it also leaves unresolved questions about how the gunfire unfolded and who shot a Secret Service officer during the security breach.
Allen was charged with attempting to assassinate the president, transporting a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, according to the Justice Department’s charging announcement. He has not entered a plea, and the charges are allegations unless proved in court.
White House Correspondents Dinner shooting filing details the alleged arsenal
In the government’s detention memorandum, prosecutors said Allen was armed with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a .38-caliber pistol, multiple knives and daggers, and ammunition as he sprinted toward the ballroom where Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Cabinet members were gathered.
The filing says the shotgun had one spent cartridge in the barrel, eight unfired cartridges in its magazine tube, six more attached to the gun and 10 more in a small leather bag. Prosecutors said the pistol was loaded with 10 rounds and that Allen also carried two additional magazines, each with nine rounds.
Authorities said Allen also had two knives, four daggers, multiple sheaths, holsters, needle-nose pliers, wire cutters and a cellphone when he was arrested. A search of his hotel room later turned up two additional knives, another loaded magazine, two boxes of shotgun ammunition, a respirator, duct tape and grip tape, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors point to planning before the dinner
Prosecutors said Allen reserved a room at the Washington Hilton April 6, weeks after Trump publicly announced he would attend the dinner. The filing says Allen traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago, then to Washington, D.C., arriving April 24 and checking into the hotel later that afternoon.
On the evening of the dinner, prosecutors said, Allen searched for the president’s schedule and viewed live coverage of Trump’s arrival. At about 8:03 p.m., he took a mirror photo in his hotel room that prosecutors say showed equipment later recovered from him; ABC News reported on the photograph and the government’s description of it.
Minutes before the attack, prosecutors said, Allen sent scheduled emails to relatives, friends and a former employer with an attached statement describing his intended actions. The filing says he identified administration officials as targets, while also saying hotel employees and guests were not his intended targets.
Gunfire questions remain central to the case
The detention filing says a Secret Service officer observed Allen fire the shotgun toward the stairs leading to the ballroom and then fired five times at him. Allen fell, suffered a minor knee injury and was arrested; prosecutors said he was not shot.
That account is now facing scrutiny because the filing does not say Allen shot the Secret Service officer who authorities previously said was struck in the chest while wearing a ballistic vest. Reuters reported that the detention filing raised questions about earlier official statements and that no assault charge had been filed as of Wednesday.
A separate Washington Post review of surveillance footage said the video showed no visible indication that Allen fired, though the footage did not capture every gunshot authorities say was fired. Prosecutors still allege Allen discharged the shotgun, and ballistic questions remain part of the investigation.
Earlier Trump threats add context to the new case
The case comes after a series of security scares and attacks involving Trump. In July 2024, the FBI investigated the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally shooting as an attempted assassination and act of domestic terrorism, The Associated Press reported at the time. Two months later, the Secret Service spotted the muzzle of a rifle near Trump’s West Palm Beach, Florida, golf club, according to an earlier AP account of the Florida incident.
Ryan Wesley Routh, the man convicted in the Florida golf course case, was later sentenced to life in prison, according to AP’s sentencing report. Prosecutors have not alleged that Allen was connected to those earlier cases, but the new filing places the dinner attack within a broader period of heightened concern over political violence and presidential security.
What happens next
Prosecutors are seeking pretrial detention, arguing that no release conditions would reasonably protect the public. They said Allen faces a possible life sentence if convicted of attempting to assassinate the president, plus a mandatory minimum sentence tied to the firearm charge.
The next phase of the case is expected to test the government’s evidence on planning, intent and the gunfire sequence. The central unanswered question is no longer only how Allen allegedly reached the checkpoint with weapons, but whether investigators can clearly establish every shot fired inside the hotel.
