Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old California teacher who stormed a Secret Service checkpoint inside the Washington Hilton on Saturday in an apparent attempt to assassinate President Donald Trump and other administration officials, is expected in court on Monday afternoon.
Allen will be charged with two counts of using a firearm and one count of assault on a federal officer. The would-be assassin shot a Secret Service agent in the chest. Thankfully, the federal officer’s bulletproof vest saved his life.
A “manifesto” from the shooter that was released on Sunday provides evidence of a radicalized and disturbed individual claiming to be reluctantly carrying out the planned violence in an effort to address a laundry list of “crimes” allegedly perpetrated by the Trump administration.
Among the many disturbing things in the nearly 1,000-word letter, Allen invokes religious language to justify his planned murders. Early in the manifesto, Allen even attempts to address suspected objections to his plan. The radicalized Californian appears to suggest he’s a follower of Jesus.
“Objection 1,” he wrote. “As a Christian, you should turn the other cheek.”
Allen is obviously referring to Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” where we read Christ’s famous words, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, ‘Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also’” (Matthew 5:38-39).
According to Allen, “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. I’m not a schoolkid blown up or a child starved or a teenage girl abused by the many criminals in this administration.”
He then added:
“Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes.”
Did Cole Tomas Allen really think his killing of administration officials would be a justifiable Christian act?
Media outlets have reported that Allen is associated with the protest groups “The Wide Awakes” and the “No Kings” rallies.
In a sit-down interview with President Trump on Sunday, CBS’s 60 Minutes’ Norah O’Donnell noted Allen’s participation in the latter leftist group.
“I’m not a king,” replied Mr. Trump. “If I was a king, I wouldn’t be dealing with you.”
In reviewing the would-be assassin’s missive, it’s clear the deluded individual has been heavily influenced by his fringe (and maybe not so fringe) associations. According to media reports, Allen “had a tendency to make radical statements as he became involved in left-wing activism in Los Angeles.”
Speaking to reporters on Monday, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt suggested that Allen’s manifesto was nearly “indistinguishable” from much of the vile hatred and rhetoric spewed daily on social media.
Leavitt also called on Congress to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a critical government agency that’s been embroiled in a funding dispute over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol.
Please join us in praying for the safety and security of all government officials, especially in a dangerously amped up social media environment that seems to be normalizing violent rhetoric and feeding the mental instability of certain individuals.
At the same time, we give thanks for the many courageous security personnel who jumped into action on Saturday, including a Secret Service agent who jumped up on stage to put his body between any shooter and President and Mrs. Trump.
We don’t yet know his name, but we admire anyone willing to sacrifice their life to save someone else.
America is blessed to have so many brave law enforcement personnel. We often don’t see them until something happens – but lots of things don’t happen, too, because they’re there and doing their jobs.
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