JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The man being held in connection with the shooting at the White House correspondents' dinner over the weekend made his first appearance in federal court since he was arrested. Thirty-one-year-old Cole Allen faces three charges, including trying to assassinate President Trump. NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas was in the courtroom today for that hearing, and he's with us now in the studio. Hey.
RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: Hi there.
SUMMERS: Ryan, let's start with the court hearing. Tell us what you heard and saw.
LUCAS: Well, look, this was Allen's initial court appearance. He was in the room wearing a blue prison outfit. He sat at the defense table with two public defenders who the judge had appointed as his counsel. Now, the magistrate judge explained the proceedings to Allen, asked Allen a few questions. He responded to many of those questions with either yes, Your Honor, or no, Your Honor. The judge also ordered this case unsealed. And Allen has been charged by criminal complaint with three counts. The most serious one is the one you mentioned at the top, attempted assassination of the U.S. president. The other two charges are both related to the guns he allegedly had on him on Saturday.
SUMMERS: You've been covering this investigation since it began Saturday night. Does the complaint provide any more details about Allen, what he allegedly did?
LUCAS: It does give us some more details, yes. Court papers say in early April, Allen made a reservation at the Hilton Hotel in Washington. That, of course, is the same hotel where the White House correspondent's dinner takes place. He allegedly booked a room there for three nights starting April 24. We previously knew that he traveled by train from LA to Washington via Chicago. The affidavit says Allen arrived in D.C. on Friday afternoon and checked into the hotel just a couple hours later.
It also includes what it says is an email that Allen allegedly sent to his family and a former employer shortly before he tried to storm - allegedly tried to storm the ballroom where President Trump was. In that document, Allen apologizes to his parents, his colleagues and others. He says he's a U.S. citizen. He ways what his elected representatives do reflects on him, and he writes that he's, quote, "no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist and traitor," end quote, to, in essence, implicate Allen in his crimes. That appears to be a reference to President Trump. Allen also makes clear who his targets are, and that would be administration officials from the highest-ranking to the lowest.
SUMMERS: Senior Justice Department officials held a press conference after Allen's court appearance. What did they have to say?
LUCAS: Well, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the work of law enforcement at the dinner. He said they did not fail. He said they did exactly what they were supposed to do. He said violence was stopped because of their courage and professionalism. This, of course, because some folks have been raising questions about the security at the event. At a broader level, Blanche also said this.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TODD BLANCHE: Violence has no place in civic life. It cannot and will not be used to disrupt democratic institutions or intimidate those who serve them. And it certainly cannot continue to be used against the president of the United States.
LUCAS: Now, the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro, also told reporters that Allen had a pump-action shotgun, a handgun and at least three knives on him. She said the writing that Allen sent his family may sound, as she put it, kind of la la la. She also said Allen, though, makes his intentions clear, which was to target administration officials. And she said prosecutors expect to bring more charges as this case moves forward.
SUMMERS: Ryan, what happens next?
LUCAS: Well, for the moment, Allen remains in custody. He is due back in court on Thursday. That is for a detention hearing where a judge will hear evidence from both sides, decide whether Allen should remain in jail pending trial. And so we may hear more about what investigators have learned so far at that hearing.
SUMMERS: NPR's Ryan Lucas, thank you.
LUCAS: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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