U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro released new surveillance video on Thursday showing Cole Allen casing the Washington Hilton the day before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The new, higher-resolution footage then captures the would-be assassin charging through a Secret Service checkpoint at the event.
Pirro, who posted the clip to X, said it shows Allen shooting a Secret Service agent during the incident and that there is no evidence the agent was hit by friendly fire. In fact, the exact moment he allegedly shoots, and the agent returns fire, is highlighted in the video.
"Today, we are releasing video already provided to U.S. District Court showing Cole Allen shoot a U.S. Secret Service officer during his attempt to assassinate the President at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner," she wrote. "There is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire."
"The video also shows Allen casing the area in the Hilton Hotel the day before the attack."
Today, we are releasing video already provided to U.S. District Court showing Cole Allen shoot a U.S. Secret Service officer during his attempt to assassinate the President at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
— US Attorney Pirro (@USAttyPirro) April 30, 2026
There is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly… pic.twitter.com/a8gRXkW6BH
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RedState's Ben Smith previously reported on images of the incident showing that there were only two shooters during the assassination attempt - Allen and the agent he reportedly struck.
The new video also shows the moment when, as Secret Service Director Sean Curran had detailed, Allen "hit his knee, while being engaged by the officer on one of our magnetometer boxes, and began to fall to the ground."
This might explain how they managed to take him down without the agent actually hitting him with his own shots.
Allen can also be seen in the video walking calmly through the hallways and the hotel gym, appearing to scout the layout the night before the WHCD.
This guy’s life is over - but the people who created this patsy just get away with it again. They know how to hide their involvement & create layers of separation using digital media etc. But they’re still responsible. https://t.co/lm10gz4q5a
— Lara Logan (@laralogan) April 30, 2026
Some media outlets and commentators initially pushed or amplified a “friendly fire” narrative after the assassination attempt. A Washington Post analysis of the original surveillance footage concluded there was “no indication ... that Allen fired his weapon."
"It is possible, ladies and gentlemen, that the shooter fired no shots, that law enforcement fired five or six shots, and that the Secret Service officer who was struck by a bullet might have been struck by friendly fire," political commentator David Pakman claimed.
Pakman suggested that the potential that Allen did not fire his weapon makes it a "completely different" situation.
Allen’s public defenders have highlighted that the video “seems to show no muzzle flash” from his shotgun.
The intent seems clear — the media are seizing on early ambiguities in the investigation to downplay the seriousness of the assassination attempt, suggest chaos or incompetence within the Trump-era Secret Service, and shift blame away from the shooter himself.
Pirro’s higher-quality, slowed-down video release, in her estimation, directly counters that speculation by showing Allen firing first.
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