By Kerry Breen
Updated on: May 3, 2026 / 7:40 PM EDT / CBS News
Alleged White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooter Cole Allen has been removed from suicide watch at the Washington, D.C., jail where he is being held, his lawyers said in court filings.
Allen’s attorneys had sought to cancel a Monday hearing about his removal from suicide watch, but Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui denied that request, saying he has “grave concerns” about why Allen was kept in solitary confinement and demanding answers.
In an earlier motion asking for his removal from suicide watch, Allen’s lawyers argued the restrictions amounted to violations of his due process rights. They said he was placed in medical isolation in a restrictive cell under 24-hour supervision. Standard protocol typically places new detainees on suicide watch for 72 hours while they are evaluated, the lawyers noted. They also said Allen was unable to communicate with people outside jail, could not keep personal items or review case documents, was escorted to showers, and was strip searched when entering and leaving his cell.
Allen, 31, has agreed to remain detained until trial. It is unclear whether he has been transferred to a different facility after being taken off suicide watch.
He is charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump at the annual press gala on April 25 and faces two firearms-related counts connected to the incident. Allen made his initial federal court appearance Monday and has not yet entered a plea. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 11.
According to sources, Allen allegedly charged a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton, where the press dinner was underway and President Trump and other administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson, were attending. Allen was arrested at the scene.
Investigators told CBS News that six shots were fired: one by Allen and five by a Secret Service officer. The officer was struck in his bulletproof vest and was not seriously hurt; two sources said the round likely hit a cellphone in the agent’s pocket. Federal officials have disputed suggestions that the shot hitting the agent was friendly fire. Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told CNN investigators had determined the bullet was “definitively” fired by Allen.