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During a recent interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro disclosed that evidence confirms a Secret Service agent was struck by gunfire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Pirro revealed that the bullet, which hit the agent, originated from the firearm carried by the 31-year-old suspect, Cole Thomas Allen. She made this announcement on Sunday.
“We’ve successfully identified the gun involved. Initially, there’s video footage showing the defendant firing at the Secret Service agent. Moreover, the agent himself can attest to being shot at and subsequently returning fire,” Pirro explained.
She further emphasized, “What’s crucial, Jake, is our ability to prove that a pellet from the defendant’s Mossberg pump-action shotgun was found embedded in the fibers of the Secret Service officer’s vest.”
Pirro concluded, “There is no doubt it was his bullet. He targeted the Secret Service agent with the intent to kill him, along with anyone obstructing his path to assassinate the President of the United States.”
Tapper went on to press Pirro about who the target of the shooting was, repeating a line from the alleged manifesto that included harsh allegations against Donald Trump.
‘He does say, and I want to apologize for using this language, but he does say, quote, I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes, unquote,’ Tapper said.
Pirro slammed Tapper for reading that portion, saying, ‘First of all, that’s outrageous. I mean, there’s a lot of other things you could have referred to. This guy is a hater. He hates Trump so much. He wants to kill him.’
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro revealed that evidence shows the White House Correspondents’ dinner shooter struck a Secret Service agent during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper
Tapper went on to press Pirro about who the target of the shooting was, repeating a line from the alleged manifesto that included harsh allegations against Donald Trump
That excerpt from the manifesto appeared to particularly upset Trump during the 60 Minutes interview he did in the wake of the attempted assassination.Â
Trump told CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell she was a ‘disgrace’ for reading some of the most inciting lines of Allen’s missive during their interview.Â
O’Donnell said, ‘He appears to reference a motive. In it, he writes this: quote, ”Administrative officials, they are targets.” He also wrote this: “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.” What’s your reaction to that?’
Trump replied: ‘Well, I was waiting for you to read that, because I knew you would. Because you’re horrible people. Horrible people. Yeah, he did write that. I am not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.’
O’Donnell attempted to interrupt Trump, asking: ‘Oh, do you think he was referring to you?’
‘Excuse me. Excuse me. I am not a pedophile,’ he quickly said, cutting the anchor off.
Trump then appeared to refer to what he felt was the connection Allen was attempting to make between himself and pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
‘You read that c**p from some sick person. I got associated with all stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated. Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, let’s say, Epstein or other things.’
Cole Thomas Allen, 31, has been charged with attempted assassination, as well as two additional firearms counts, including discharging a weapon during a crime of violence
Evidence shows that the bullet that hit the agent came from the weapon carried by Allen, 31, Pirro said
Trump has never been charged with a crime in connection to Epstein, who the President has said he kicked out of his Mar-a-Lago club decades ago.
Pirro’s office has charged Allen with attempted assassination, as well as two additional firearms counts, including discharging a weapon during a crime of violence.
Prosecutors say Allen attempted to storm the event on April 25, where President Trump and a number of his top cabinet officials were attending the press event at the Hilton Hotel in Washington DC.
Footage showed the alleged gunman sprinting at agents and trying to burst into the room, moments before the president and First Lady Melania Trump were hastily evacuated from the event.
Allen allegedly exchanged gunfire with Secret Service, and a Secret Service agent was shot in the chest but was saved by a ballistic vest, escaping with only minor injuries.
Though Allen was quickly subdued and did not enter the large dining hall, many of those in attendance have fretted over how a gunman was even able to get into the building, particularly after two prior assassination attempts on the President’s life.
Prosecutors said Allen was able to sneak several weapons into the hotel for his alleged assassination attempt, including a Mossberg Maverick 12-guage shotgun and hunting knives.
He avoided the hotel’s highly monitored corridors by slipping through an internal stairway that was not as closely surveilled as the hallways and elevators.
President Donald Trump, wife Melania and others were evacuated from the stage at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner onÂ
Cole was ‘tackled to the ground’ and handcuffed by law enforcement after he allegedly broke through a security checkpoint and opened fire at the lobby of the Washington HiltonÂ
After running down around 10 stories in the stairwell, the gunman emerged on a lower level close to the initial screening area where magnetometers and Secret Service were stationed.
Allen was tackled to the ground after the exchange of gunfire, and footage showed him shirtless on the floor as he was taken into custody on Saturday night.
According to a manifesto he sent to family members moments before his planned attack, Allen was attempting to take out the President and members of his inner circle.
Allen’s manifesto reportedly read: ‘Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. I’m not the person raped in a detention camp. I’m not the fisherman executed without trial.’