On April 25, 2026, gunshots were fired near the security area at the annual White House correspondents dinner. Following the gunshots, President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President J.D.Vance, and some members of the cabinet were evacuated by the Secret Service. Trump attended the dinner for the first time as  president. Journalists and news anchors present at the scene, including CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, described the shooter to be firing a “very serious weapon,” at least six times before being tackled by the police. The Secret Service stopped the suspect from entering the ballroom and took him into custody at the scene. There were four reported injured, including the suspect, and no deaths.

The suspect, Cole Thomas Allen, 31, an educator from Torrance, California, holds an engineering degree from CalTech. Bin Tang, Allen’s professor at the time, said that he was a good student.

“He was a very good student indeed, always sitting in the front row of my class, paying attention, and frequently emailing me with coursework questions…I am very shocked to see the news,” Tang told CBS News

Allen’s students at the company C2 Education echoed Tang’s statements, saying that Allen was “entirely normal and friendly in their interactions” and they “express profound shock” about the news of the attack.

Outside of work, Allen was a part of The Wide Awakes group, an artist led progressive activist network that started in 2020 inspired by a 19th century abolitionist group of the same name. He also attended a “No Kings” protest in California and donated to Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign in 2024. Before the attack, Allen sent a manifesto to his friends and family, stating his  reasoning was “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” and that “this is the first real opportunity I’ve had to do something about it.” Allen’s statements corroborates with a statement by one of his family members Allen referenced wanting to do “something” to fix the issues with today’s world.

Allen was charged in federal court with three counts, including attempting to assassinate the president. On Monday May 11th, Allen pleaded not guilty to these counts. The case has yet to be moved to trial.

On Tuesday May 12th, The US news conducted a survey about the recent shooting and nearly one in four of the Americans responded that the shooting was staged. This was also said about the shooting of his ear in June 2024 and another attempt at the Mar Lago golf course around the same time. 38% of the respondents believe that all three shootings were authentic. According to the survey, 34% of Democratic respondents were more likely to say that it was staged, compared to 13% of Republicans.

Whether or not this was staged doesn’t matter. What matters is that we are in a world where political violence is becoming more common. Just because you disagree with someone, doesn’t give you the right to kill them. And we have lost sight of that basic truth. As more conspiracies spread and more information is brought to light, it is hard to determine where you stand on matters. So, I ask you as a reader: Be skeptical of everything, especially if you agree with it. Because now, questions are the closest path to the truth.

Acknowledgement: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual author, not necessarily Our National Conversation as a whole.