defendant was wearing a black dress shirt, black slacks, and what appears to be a red necktie,
tucked into his pants. An enhanced version of the image (below right) shows that the defendant
also appeared to be wearing a small leather bag consistent in appearance with the ammunition-
filled bag later recovered from his person (item 1), a shoulder holster (item 2), a sheathed knife
consistent in appearance with one of the knives later recovered from his person (item 3), and pliers
and wire cutters consistent in appearance with those later recovered from his person (item 4).
Source: United States District Court for the District Of Columbia
The photo of Allen, which is in the filing, shows him wearing a small leather bag that is consistent in appearance with an ammunition-filled bag later recovered from him, a shoulder holster, a sheathed knife that appears to be one of the knives later recovered from him “and pliers and wire cutters consistent in appearance with those later recovered from his person,” the filing says.
Prosecutors included the photo, as well as photos of guns and knives that Allen was allegedly carrying on Saturday, to argue he should be detained without bond.
A detention hearing for the 31-year-old California tutor is scheduled for Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington. He is charged with trying to assassinate Trump, transportation of a firearm or ammunition in interstate commerce, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Allen has been held since he was tackled by Secret Service officers on Saturday, before he could run down a staircase to the ballroom where Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other top Trump administration officials were attending the annual media soiree.
“There is no condition or combination of conditions that would reasonably assure the community’s safety if the defendant were released pending trial,” prosecutors in the office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro wrote in the filing.
“Detention is warranted based on the gravely serious and highly calculated nature of the defendant’s crimes, the overwhelming evidence of his guilt, and the intolerable risk that he will again resort to extreme violence to register political disagreement,” their memo says.
The detention memo gives other details about Allen’s movements and alleged actions before he was arrested.
Prosecutors said that on April 6, a little more than a month after Trump said he would attend the group’s dinner at the Hilton, Allen used his cellphone to search “white house correspondents dinner 2026.”
“Less than two hours later, at 3:28 p.m., the defendant received a confirmation email for a two-night stay at the Washington Hilton from April 24 to 26, 2026,” the memo says. “Ten days later, on April 16, the defendant used his cellphone to access a series of online media articles discussing the Dinner, including its host, the event schedule, and expected attendees.”
Allen sometime afterward bought a one-way Amtrak ticket from Los Angeles to Washington, via Chicago, which he used to board a train on April 21, the memo said.
During the trip, Allen used his phone to view a news article titled, “Trump’s Plans for ‘Mic-Drop’ Media Confrontation Are Leaked: The president is planning a rage-fueled moment at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner,” according to the memo.
Allen kept a running note on his phone about “observations and thoughts during his cross-country train journey,” describing the New Mexico desert, how “Chicago is cool,” and writing that Pennsylvania’s “woods are awesome,” the memo said.
Allen arrived in Washington and checked into the Hilton on April 24, the memo said. The next day, which was the night of the dinner, “he used his cellphone to visit the webpage “Presidential Schedule –
CivicTracker,” prosecutors wrote.
“At about 8:27 p.m., just minutes before the attack, the defendant used his cellphone to visit a media company’s website and accessed the video, ‘WATCH LIVE: President Trump, first lady en route to White House Correspondents’ Dinner,’ ” according to the memo. “He also visited another website to view live media coverage of the President exiting his vehicle to attend the Dinner. Less than one minute later, the defendant searched ‘trump white house correspondents dinner” on a web search engine.”
“The defendant traveled across the country with the explicit aim to kill the President of the United States. The defendant, armed with a 12-gauge shotgun, a .38 caliber pistol, two knives, four daggers, and enough ammunition to take dozens of lives, was apprehended by [U.S. Secret Service] officers mere feet away from the ballroom where his primary target was located, along with other members of the Cabinet,” the filing says.
“This was a planned attack of unfathomable malice that risked the lives of hundreds of people whose only transgression was attending an annual event celebrating the media and featuring the President of the United States,” prosecutors wrote. “It was, at its core, an anti-democratic act of political violence.”
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