A retired FBI profiler has offered new insights into the mindset of the gunman who stormed the White House Correspondents' Dinner, in what authorities believe was a plot to assassinate the president and high-ranking administration officials.
Cole Allen, 31, was arraigned in court on Monday on charges of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump following a chaotic scene on Saturday at the annual press event.
Jim Clemente, an author and retired FBI profiler who worked on the Unabomber case, told Fox News that he believes Allen acted out of 'disrespect for his own life' and was motivated by politicians' actions.
'He didn't have a general disrespect for human life, he had a very specific disrespect for human life. And I think that went along with his own disrespect for his own life,' Clemente argued.
'Obviously, he was outwardly motivated by the actions of politicians, which is why he targeted them, and this is probably something that he has expressed in his life recently, maybe for a long time,' he continued. 'But clearly, he's gotten to the point where that rose to a level — or his own self-image lowered to a level — where he felt like he needed to do something to feel better about his own image or what he perceived the world to be at this time.'
Authorities said Allen stormed a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton before armed security tackled him, and gunfire was exchanged. One Secret Service member was struck in their protective gear. Although no one was harmed, the harrowing sequence of events underscored security concerns and renewed conversations surrounding heightened political violence in the US.
Investigators uncovered an apparent manifesto after the attack, which Allen allegedly sent to family members minutes before he stormed the lobby of the hotel. The writings detailed his plans to target administration officials from 'highest-ranking to lowest,' and demonstrated extreme anti-Trump sentiments.
Allen's alleged manifesto, first obtained in full and published by the New York Post, said his only targets were administration officials, and he would not fire at hotel employees or guests. The writings also included the suspect's plans to minimize casualties by using buckshot rather than slugs.
'I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people *chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn't come to that,' the message read.
Allen is a graduate of the California Institute of Technology and described himself on social media as a game developer, engineer, scientist and teacher. Dylan Wakayama, the president of a nonprofit that collaborates with Allen's employer, C2 Education, told the Los Angeles Times that Allen's students thought he was intelligent, nice and quiet.
'They [Allen's students] were completely shocked when I told them that this all went down,' Wakayama said. 'I think all of us in Torrance would be shocked if this is the man who attempted to kill the president of the United States,' he added.
Max Harris, a senior whom Allen had tutored in Torrance, told the New York Times that Allen seemed 'like a completely average guy. I never would have expected anything like this from a guy like him,' Harris said.
Clemente told Fox News that based on what he knows about Allen and his alleged manifesto, it did not seem like the suspect was a psychopath. 'He doesn't sound like somebody who is unstable mentally. Certainly, emotionally, that's a different story ... nothing that I have read or seen indicates that he was having some kind of psychotic break or that he would be schizophrenic,' Clemente added.
The FBI profiler argued that Allen likely knew that if he ran through a security checkpoint at the high-profile event, he could be met with gunfire. 'And that might have been part of his motivation, that he didn't have the will to live, and once you lose the will to keep yourself alive, other people's lives become much less important,' Clemente said.
Allen's alleged manifesto had included an apparent acknowledgment that he could be injured by armed agents. 'I apologize to my colleagues and students for saying I had a personal emergency (by the time anyone reads this, I probably most certainly DO need to go to the ER, but can hardly call that not a self-inflicted status.)' the manifesto read in part.
Allen has not entered a plea to the charges against him. US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on Monday that law enforcement expects to bring more charges against Allen. He is scheduled to appear in court again on Thursday for a detention hearing.
