The government has evidence that a federal agent was shot during an alleged attempt to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last weekend, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on Sunday.
“We now can establish that a pellet that came from the buckshot from the defendant’s Mossberg pump-action shotgun was intertwined with the fiber of the vest of the Secret Service officer,” Pirro said during an appearance on CNN.
Pirro also said on CNN that she will not recuse herself from the case because she was a witness.
Cole Thomas Allen allegedly rushed security guards and fired a shotgun, hitting one Secret Service agent outside the black-tie gala on April 25.
Allen, 31, was assigned a “safe cell” equipped with padded walls and 24-hour lockdown procedures after he was booked on April 27. He was required to wear “a vest akin to a strait jacket,” according to a filing by his lawyers obtained by Reuters.
The suspect has asked a judge to take him off suicide precautions while in jail.
The annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was thrown into chaos after Allen rushed past security and fired at least one gunshot. He was reportedly looking to target members of the Trump administration, he wrote in a message to family members before the attack, according to court documents.
President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and other high-profile figures were rushed from the Washington Hilton ballroom, as journalists, politicians and other guests scrambled to take cover.
