The attacker at the Correspondents' Dinner was targeting Trump. The suspect's manifesto was found in the hotel room. How Cole Allen justified the bombing

Preliminary indications from the investigation into the armed attack at the Correspondents' Dinner at the White House show that the attacker, Cole Allen, was targeting President Donald Trump, but he was not his only target, writes The Guardian. A manifesto in which Allen justified the attack was found in his room in the hotel where the attack took place.

After law enforcement officers searched Cole Allen's room they discovered a list of targets for the attack, listed in the order of importance he attached to their elimination. The only major member of the Trump administration not on his list is FBI chief Kash Patel.

“What my representatives do reflects on me”

The New York Post published Allen's manifesto justifying his attack, calling himself a “friendly federal assassin.” “I am a citizen of the United States of America. What my representatives do reflects on me and I am no longer willing to allow a pedophile, rapist and traitor to stain my hands with his crimes,” wrote Cole Allen.

“To turn your back when someone else is oppressed is not a Christian attitude; it is complicity in the crimes of the oppressor,” the attacker continued.

The document was written after his stay at the hotel as references are made to the security device which he considered flimsy and which he felt a kind of “arrogance”. “Everybody is out, focused on the protesters and the arrivals because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before,” wrote Cole Allen.

His sister, Avriana Allen, told investigators that her brother was making increasingly radical statements and repeatedly said he wanted to do something to solve the world's problems, Fox News notes.

She stated that the brother bought two pistols and a rifle which he kept in the parents' house without telling them and that he regularly went to the range to practice using them. Avriana Allen also said that she had recently joined a group called “The Wide Awakes”.

Trump calls him 'anti-Christian'

In an intervention on Fox News, Trump characterized the suspect as a “sick and very disturbed person”, adding that he appeared to be “strongly anti-Christian”. “He's going to have some big problems for the rest of his life,” Donald Trump said.

The intent to kill Trump as well as other dignitaries was confirmed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“We are still investigating the motive and that will take us at least two days. We believe he was targeting administration officials in this attempt,” Blanche told NBC News. He said it was “likely” that Trump was also targeted, “but I want to wait and take my time,” the attorney general added.

Blanche said she does not believe the suspect is cooperating with police, as Cole Allen is expected to be charged Monday with assault on a federal officer, unlawful use of a weapon and attempted murder of a federal officer.

Allen reportedly assembled the weapon he used to carry out the attack in the hotel room. “He barely got into the perimeter. And by 'barely' I mean a little more than a meter,” Blanche added.

What happened at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were evacuated from the White House Correspondents' Association dinner by Secret Service agents Saturday night after a man opened fire with a rifle on security personnel, officials said.

The gunman fired on a Secret Service agent, an FBI official told Reuters. About two hours after the incident, Trump told reporters at the White House that the officer had been saved by his bulletproof vest and was in “good condition.”

“A man attacked a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons and was taken down by some very brave members of the Secret Service,” Trump said at a White House press conference after the incident.

Surveillance footage released by Trump on Truth Social showed a man quickly running through the security checkpoint, catching security forces off guard for a moment before they quickly drew their weapons.