A federal judge apologized in open court to Cole Tomas Allen, the man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump, after defense lawyers raised alarms about how Allen has been treated in the Washington, D.C., jail.
At a May 4 hearing, Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui pressed a jail representative about Allen’s confinement and told the defendant, “I’m sorry,” after his attorney described conditions that included being kept alone in a cell and being denied access to a Bible.
“Whatever you’ve been through, I apologize for the prior week,” Faruqui said at one point.
The judge ordered the government to provide an update by 9 a.m. ET on May 5 on when a final decision will be made about where Allen will be housed. If the jail decides Allen should face stricter conditions than his lawyers believe are appropriate, Faruqui said he wants to know why.
Faruqui repeatedly compared Allen’s treatment to defendants accused of violence during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, saying those defendants were generally treated better than Allen has been so far.
“This is not the jail’s first go around with people engaged in alleged political violence,” Faruqui said.
“Pardons may erase convictions, but they do not erase history,” he added, referencing Trump’s sweeping pardons for most Jan. 6 defendants after returning to office in 2025.
Faruqui held the hearing even after Allen’s lawyers said May 3 they were withdrawing their request because they learned Allen is no longer on “suicide status.” In his order, the judge said he still had “grave concerns” about Allen’s “seemingly unprompted solitary confinement for days and overall conditions of confinement,” and required a D.C. Department of Corrections representative to explain the situation.
In a May 3 filing, Allen’s court-appointed attorneys said he was repeatedly screened and cleared of being a suicide risk, but was still being kept under suicide-preventive restrictions that blocked him from personal items, tablets, phone calls, non-legal visits and dimmed lights.
“Finally, Mr. Allen is forced to be escorted to the shower, strip searched when entering and exiting his cell, and wear a padded vest while inside,” according to the motion signed by federal public defender A.J. Kramer and defense attorneys Tezira Abe and Eugene Ohm.
“These conditions are excessive restrictions on his liberty that serve no justifiable purpose and deprive Mr. Allen of dignity while incarcerated,” they added.
Allen is being held ahead of trial after dropping his fight against pretrial detention on April 30. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 11, when prosecutors may call witnesses and present evidence to support keeping the case moving forward.
Prosecutors say Cole Allen attacked the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at a Washington Hilton hotel on April 25, firing a shotgun in the direction of stairs leading to the ballroom area. Allen faces attempted assassination and firearm charges.
If convicted, Allen could spend the rest of his life in prison.
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