WHCD shooting suspect Cole Allen says prison conditions ‘violate his rights’

WASHINGTON, DC: The man, accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, has asked a federal judge to lift restrictions that he argues violate his rights under the Due Process Clause. 

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, is facing multiple federal charges, including attempting to assassinate the president, after opening fire at the Washington Hilton after running through a Secret Service checkpoint with a shotgun, handgun, and knives.

Footage also showed him exchanging gunfire with Secret Service, leading to one agent getting shot in the chest. However, they were saved by a ballistic vest, escaping with only minor injuries.

Allen also faces a second charge of transportation of a firearm in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony. The third charge involves using a firearm during a violent crime, which carries a minimum sentence of 10 years.

Cole Tomas Allen asks judge to lift restrictions

In a five‑page motion filed Saturday, May 2, Allen’s attorney and federal Public Defender AJ Kramer argued that his prison conditions "amount to violations of his rights under the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution."

“Such restrictions deprive Mr. Allen of accessing resources like a jail tablet, which would permit him to communicate with loved ones outside of the jail,” the motion stated. 

"Similarly, because Mr. Allen is not permitted to retain personal items while in the cell, it is counsel’s understanding that he cannot review documents that counsel leave with him, thus hindering his ability to assist in his own defense,” it continued.

The attorney argued that when Allen was being booked into jail for the first time, staff at the Department of Corrections did not note any security risks on his booking documents. Still, the jail proceeded to confine him in a safe cell, described as a padded room ​with a 24-hour lockdown procedure.

Allen is also subjected to strip searches every time he enters or leaves, while also being required to wear a vest similar to a straitjacket.

His attorneys said that Allen has still not been moved to a lower security level despite a nurse determining he no longer needed the precautions.

Cole Tomas Allen’s attorney argues he is not a threat

The latest motion came after Allen’s attorneys pushed back against the government’s portrayal of him as a threat.

“Mr Allen has no criminal history - not even prior arrests, which alone would rebut the presumption of detention,” his lawyers wrote in an 11-page filing submitted on Wednesday.

They also argued the case had been overstated, particularly the suggestion that he was planning a mass shooting. “The government’s rhetoric about a ‘mass shooting’ is also unsupported by its own proffered facts,” the filing stated.

According to the defense, Allen was carrying a pump-action shotgun, not an automatic or semi-automatic weapon, which they argue does not match what they describe as a “modern-day mass shooting.”