Allen’s lawyer said he had been removed from the strict conditions of “suicide watch” in prison, but the judge said he still had “serious concerns” about the way Allen was treated in prison.
Correspondent dinner shooting suspect remains in custody
Cole Thomas Allen, the suspect charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump, will remain in custody for the time being.
WASHINGTON – A federal judge apologized to Cole Thomas Allen, accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump, during a May 4 hearing and grilled prison representatives for the conditions Allen has faced since his arrest.
“I’m sorry,” Judge Zia M. Faruqui told Allen, who was wearing an orange jumpsuit over a white shirt, after Allen’s lawyer explained the prison conditions, including being kept in solitary confinement and denied access to a Bible.
“I apologize for the last week, whatever you went through,” Faruqui said at one point.
Mr. Faruqui ordered the government to provide an update by 9 a.m. ET on May 5 on when a final decision will be made on where Mr. Allen will be housed in a Washington, D.C., prison. If the prison decides Allen should be treated harsher than his lawyers believe is appropriate, Faruqui said he would like to know why.
Faruqui repeatedly compared Allen’s case during the hearing to the defendants accused of storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, saying those defendants have generally been treated much better than Allen, who has no criminal history, has received.
“This is not the first time the prison has cracked down on people allegedly involved in political violence,” Faruqui said.
“Pardons may erase convictions, but they don’t erase history,” he added, noting that on his first day as president in 2025, Trump granted full pardons to nearly all defendants charged with crimes related to Jan. 6.
Allen’s lawyer explains key prison restrictions
Faruqui ordered the hearing to be held at noon ET on May 4, even though Allen’s lawyers announced on May 3 that they were withdrawing their request for a hearing after learning that Allen was no longer in a “suicidal state” in prison.
Faruqui said in his order that he remains “gravely concerned” about Allen’s “many days of haphazard solitary confinement and overall conditions of confinement.” The judge added that a representative from the D.C. Department of Corrections would be required to attend the hearing to explain the conditions of Allen’s confinement.
Earlier on May 3, Allen’s lawyers said in a filing in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., which is handling Allen’s case, that although Allen has undergone repeated tests and has been ruled out as a suicide risk, he remains under suicide-prevention restrictions at the prison, barring personal belongings, tablets, phones, non-legal visits and dimmed lights.
“Ultimately, Mr. Allen will be required to be escorted to the shower, his clothing will be searched when entering and exiting his cell, and he will be required to wear a padded vest while inside the cell,” said the motion, signed by federal public defender A.J. Kramer and Mr. Allen’s two public defenders, Tejira Abe and Eugene Ohm.
“These conditions are excessive restrictions on his freedom, serve no legitimate purpose, and deprive Mr. Allen of his dignity while incarcerated,” they added.
“It can drive people crazy.”
Tony Towns, acting general counsel for the D.C. Department of Corrections, spoke about Allen’s condition. He said medical providers diagnosed Allen and he was initially placed on suicide watch before being demoted to suicide prevention status. He said Mr. Allen’s evaluation is ongoing and that the prison’s primary concern is Mr. Allen’s safety and well-being.
Towns said the Housing Commission will make the final decision on where Allen will be placed.
“Every case is different,” Towns added.
Federal prosecutor Jocelyn Ballantine raised two points to defend the initial suicide-related restrictions on Allen. She claimed that Allen told FBI agents that he did not expect to survive the assassination attempt on President Trump, and that an email he planned to send before the attack stated that he would likely not be able to speak to friends or family in the future.
Faruqui praised Ballantine as a “professional” and told Towns not to interpret his complaints as personal comments, adding that Towns had no control over Allen’s condition.
But Faruqui also said the reported conditions were “functionally equivalent to solitary confinement.”
“People can go crazy when they find themselves in such a situation,” Faruqui said at one point.
Defense attorney Ohm said during the hearing that prison officials printed out several pages of a Bible for Allen, but Allen still doesn’t have the Bible. Ohm said Allen asked him to be a pastor on May 3, but he has not yet met with him.
Towns admitted in a subsequent hearing that he intended to make sure Allen got a Bible.
Allen’s next step
Allen is being held in jail ahead of a yet-to-be-scheduled trial after dropping his fight against pretrial detention on April 30. The next scheduled hearing in his case is a May 11 preliminary hearing, where prosecutors may call witnesses and present evidence to convince the judge that Allen likely committed the crime and therefore the charges should proceed.
Allen faces attempted assassination and firearms charges after prosecutors say he attacked the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., on April 25. Prosecutors said in an April 29 court filing that he was arrested after firing a shotgun into the stairs leading to the banquet hall dinner area.
If convicted, Allen could spend the rest of his life in prison.
This story has been updated with additional information.
