WHCD suspect to be arraigned in federal court over alleged plot against Trump officials
Fox News contributors Paul Mauro and Donna Rotunno joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss the arraignment for the WHCD shooting suspect.
The shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner targeting President Donald Trump and his administration on Saturday evening has intensified concerns about political violence in the United States, particularly as conservatives point to a broader pattern of threats, attacks, and intimidation in recent years.
A man opened fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday evening, targeting Trump and administration officials. Authorities identified the suspect as 31-year-old Cole Allen, of Torrance, Calif., who is in custody as authorities are continuing to investigate a motive for the shooting and build a case ahead of an expected arraignment on Monday.
The president and his Cabinet officials were unharmed, with the suspect swiftly subdued after rushing into the Washington Hilton, where the annual event has historically been held.
Allen prepared a manifesto outlining his intent and shared anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric on social media, authorities have reported.
WHCD SHOOTING SUSPECT PLANNED TO TARGET TRUMP OFFICIALS, MANIFESTO REVEALS
U.S. President Donald Trump is escorted out during the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 25, 2026, in this screen capture from video. REUTERS/Bo Erickson (Bo Erickson /Reuters)
The latest attempt follows a wider trend of the targeting of conservatives and pro-life nonprofits with shootings, arson, and vandalism in just the past few years.
Charlie Kirk Assaination
Charlie Kirk throws a "Make America Great Again" hat to the crowd at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah. Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking at his "American Comeback Tour" when he was shot in the neck and killed. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was speaking at Utah Valley University as part of his "American Comeback Tour" when shots rang out and he collapsed on stage in September 2025. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The 31-year-old husband and father was a staunch ally of President Donald Trump's, and toured the nation promoting right-of-center ideology to youths, most notably on college campuses. He founded his conservative group more than a dozen years ago.
CHARLIE KIRK, TURNING POINT USA FOUNDER, DEAD AT 31 AFTER UTAH CAMPUS SHOOTING
Attempt against Trump in Pennsylvania
Trump faced faced two assassination attempts in 2024, including on July 13, 2024, when he was shot in the ear while joining a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The shooting rocked the election cycle as Trump rose, bleeding and defiant, and urged the crowd to "Fight, fight, fight."
The assassination attempt came just two days before the Republican National Convention was set to kick off in Milwaukee.
The FBI has pointed to a complex web of personal grievances, mental health issues and a desire for notoriety as leading to the act of Thomas Crooks. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
Trump appeared at the convention while wearing a bandage on his ear, and noted how he "had God on my side" during the attempt. The motive of the would-be assassin, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, who was killed by a Secret Service sniper, remains unclear. The FBI has pointed to a complex web of personal grievances, mental health issues and a desire for notoriety as leading to the act, Fox News Digital previously reported.
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Attempt against Trump in Florida
Just weeks later, on Sept. 15, 2024, Trump was rushed off of his golf course in Florida when shots rang out. The suspect in that assassination attempt case, Ryan Routh, posted prolifically about Trump, the 2024 election and politics in the lead up to the attempt, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Trump assassination attempt suspect Ryan Routh was seen being taken into custody Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in bodycam footage released Monday. (Martin County Sheriff's Office )
Routh is going on trial Thursday over the case, and described the president as an "insecure ego idiot-mad fool" in court documents in September, the New York Post reported.
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Attack on Republican office
Attacks on conservatives have unfolded at the grassroots level, as well, including in 2025 when the New Mexico Republican Party's headquarters faced an arson attack. The attack destroyed the entrance to the headquarters, while graffiti reading "ICE=KKK" scrawled on the building.
The suspect in that case, who also allegedly attacked a Tesla Albuquerque Showroom, was hit with federal charges as Attorney General Pam Bondi pointed to the incident as a disturbing case of political violence.
The Republican Party of New Mexico’s headquarters in Albuquerque were part of an alleged arson attempt, according to the organization. (@NewMexicoGOP/X)
TPUSA CHAPTERS
TPUSA chapters around the nation have also faced other incidents of violence last year, including when a group of students with Turning Point USA at UC Davis were attacked by masked individuals in April, Fox Digital reported at the time.
The conservative group was in the midst of hosting a "Prove me Wrong" event with a guest speaker when protesters destroyed camera gear, a tent, event signage, flipped tables, and assaulted group staff, TPUSA said at the time.
Looking back at 2023, former NCAA swimmer and conservative political activist Riley Gaines was also attacked and barricaded in a room at San Francisco State University following a speech to students promoting a ban on biological males from playing in women's sports. The event was part of a Turning Point USA and Leadership Institute forum on campus.
Churches and Pro-Life Centers
Churches and pro-life groups have also faced dozens upon dozens of attacks beginning in 2022 in response to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, which effectively ended the recognition of abortion as a constitutional right.
The attacks included a pro-life center that was "firebombed" in Buffalo, New York, in 2022, Catholic churches that were vandalized and set on fire, and pro-choice protesters interrupting church services and Catholic masses. The attacks followed a radical pro-choice group declaring in a public letter that it was "open season" on pro-lifers.
GOP Baseball Practice
In 2017, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., was shot along with three others when James Hodgkinson, a deranged supporter of Bernie Sanders, sprayed an Alexandria, Virginia, baseball field with gunfire as Republican lawmakers practiced for the annual Congressional Baseball Game. Scalise nearly died, but recovered and remains in office.
"I’m incredibly grateful for the brave members of law enforcement who acted quickly to protect all of us attending tonight’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. This is an event meant to bring people together. Violence has NO place in our country," Scalise posted to X on Saturday.
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Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano, Stepheny Price, and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
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