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WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors on Monday charged 31-year-old Torrance resident Cole Tomas Allen with attempting to assassinate President Trump after rushing past security at the White House Correspondents’ Assn. dinner in Washington on Saturday.

The domestic terrorism charge, announced during a brief arraignment hearing in federal court in Washington and detailed in a subsequent charging document, carries a potential sentence of life in prison for the Caltech graduate and high school tutor.

Prosecutors also charged Allen with transporting firearms across state lines while traveling by train from California to Washington and with discharging a firearm during the incident at the Washington Hilton, where officials said a federal agent was shot in his ballistic vest.

In the charging document, prosecutors also detailed an email Allen allegedly sent to family members just as he was preparing to breach the event perimeter, in which he allegedly wrote that top Trump administration officials were his target but that he was willing to “go through” others at the event to reach them.

Allen was instead taken down by agents shortly after rushing past them and before descending stairs and entering a ballroom where Trump and other top administration officials were seated. No officials were injured during the incident, which the White House described as the latest in a string of attempts on Trump’s life.

Federal public defenders assigned to represent Allen did not respond to a request for comment Monday. Allen could not be reached for comment. A person previously reached at the Allen family home in Torrance — which was searched by the FBI over the weekend — declined to comment.

At the morning hearing, Asst. U.S. Atty. Jocelyn Ballantine said Allen “traveled across multiple state lines with a firearm” and “attempted to assassinate the president with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun.”

Top administration officials — including acting Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel — echoed those claims at a subsequent news briefing. Blanche described Allen as a serious threat, while also downplaying his proximity to the president and the likelihood that he ever could have caused harm to administration officials.

“Law enforcement did not fail. They did exactly what they are trained to do,” Blanche said. He said Allen had either fallen or was tackled to the ground while under fire from law enforcement.

Blanche and Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said Allen was charged with attempting to assassinate the president because of his writings — which Trump and others in the administration have referred to as a “manifesto.”

Blanche said officials have seized devices from Allen’s hotel room and his home in Torrance, which could add additional context to his motivations, but officials were not prepared to discuss what may have been found on those devices. Pirro said additional charges were pending.

Blanche emphasized that the investigation into the incident is in its early stages. It still isn’t clear, for example, who fired the shot that struck the Secret Service agent.

“We’re still looking at that,” Blanche said.

In the charging document, prosecutors included the text of the manifesto — an emailed document they allege Allen had scheduled to automatically send to family members around the time he entered the secured area at the hotel, in which he declared that Trump administration officials were his targets.

In the emailed document, titled by the writer as an “Apology and Explanation,” Allen allegedly wrote that Trump administration officials would be “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest” in terms of how he targeted them.

“I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people *chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn’t come to that,” he wrote, according to the charging document.

Allen allegedly wrote that Secret Service agents were “targets only if necessary, and to be incapacitated non-lethally if possible”; that police, hotel employees and hotel guests were not his targets; and that he would be using buckshot to “minimize casualties,” according to the document.

“I don’t expect forgiveness, but if I could have seen any other way to get this close, I would have taken it,” he wrote, according to the documents. Allen, a tutor in Torrance, also apologized to his family, colleagues and students, but said he felt he had to act as a U.S. citizen represented by the Trump administration.

“What my representatives do reflects on me. And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” he allegedly wrote.

The charging document also described the initial moments when Allen entered the secured area and a Secret Service agent was allegedly shot in his ballistic vest.

Prosecutors wrote that federal agents “heard a loud gunshot” as Allen rushed through a metal detector holding a long gun, that a Secret Service officer identified only by the initials “V.G.” was “shot once in the chest” in a ballistic vest, and that he “drew his service weapon and fired multiple times at ALLEN, who fell to the ground and suffered minor injuries but was not shot.”

Allen was found in possession of a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38-caliber pistol, the document alleged.

Prosecutors requested Allen be held in detention. U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew J. Sharbaugh, who presided over the hearing, set a second hearing for Thursday morning to determine whether Allen will be held in custody.

Federal public defenders assigned to Allen after he submitted a financial affidavit to the court requesting representation noted that Allen has no prior criminal record, a factor in determining a criminal suspect’s handling before trial.

Those attorneys — Tezira Abe and Eugene Ohm — did not respond to a request for comment after the hearing.

Allen, clad in a royal blue jumpsuit, showed no visible injuries and said little at the hearing, aside from identifying himself and acknowledging that he understood the legal proceedings.

Allen had allegedly outlined his disdain for and intent to kill Trump administration officials in the manifesto written before the correspondents’ dinner. According to the New York Post, Allen in that document described himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” who wouldn’t hesitate to shoot any of the more than 2,600 people in attendance to reach officials.

Those at the event included hundreds of journalists and many Trump administration officials — including Vice President JD Vance and First Lady Melania Trump.

Allen had booked a room at the Washington Hilton, where the dinner took place.

Trump in a “60 Minutes” interview Sunday said he “wasn’t worried” at the sound of gunshots. “We live in a crazy world,” he said.

Trump, who has been dogged by questions about his relationship with the deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein throughout his second term, bristled at the shooter’s reference to a “pedophile” and “rapist” in the manifesto.

“I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody,” Trump said in the interview with CBS reporter Norah O’Donnell. “I’m not a pedophile.”

He also railed against O’Donnell for quoting that portion of the manifesto, saying it was inappropriate to do so.

During an earlier news conference Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the White House was considering whether to revise Secret Service protocols for large events attended by the president, despite his satisfaction with the agency’s performance at Saturday’s event.

Leavitt said the Secret Service successfully neutralized the suspect and cleared the president, first lady and vice president from the room within minutes.

Still, with major celebrations planned around the nation’s 250th anniversary, the World Cup and the Olympics, discussions on potential updates to Secret Service plans will begin this week, led by Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Leavitt said. For security reasons, the results of those discussions will likely be kept a secret, she added.

“If adjustments need to be made to protect the president, they will be made,” she said.

Leavitt also called on Congress to pass funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which houses the Secret Service, after a political impasse has led to an historic 73-day lapse in such funding.

Leavitt also suggested anti-Trump rhetoric from the president’s detractors played a role in him being targeted and needed to be toned down.

“It is inspiring these crazy people across the country to target not just the president, but those who work for him and those who support him,” Leavitt said.

“Nobody is recent years has faced more bullets and violence than President Trump,” she added. “This political violence stems from a systemic demonization of him and his supporters by commentators — yes, by elected members of the Democrat Party, and even some in the media.”

Blanche echoed that argument — pointing blame at the media, many of whom had been in the ballroom with Trump.

“When you have reporters, when you have media just being overly critical and calling the president horrible names for no reason and without evidence, without proof, it shouldn’t surprise us that this type of rhetoric takes place,” he said.

As left-hander Alex Vesia emerged from the Dodgers bullpen, heard the electric guitar riff of Seether’s “Gasoline,” and felt his adrenaline spike with the roar of the crowd, he knew 27 of those cheering fans had helped him and wife Kayla through a devastating loss just months prior.

He and Kayla had chosen the Dodgers’ game against the Mets on Tuesday, Healthcare appreciation night at Dodger Stadium, to celebrate the hands-on staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center who had cared for them last October, through the death of their newborn daughter Sterling Sol.

He’d spotted their suite by shirts Kayla had customized for the group, bearing the initials SV with a heart, and signed by Alex.

“Today was the first time I’ve seen pretty much all of them since everything,” Alex Vesia said after earning the save in the Dodgers’ 2-1 win Tuesday. “So it was very special, very emotional. … I couldn’t have written it any better.”

Vesia authored the ending to what manager Dave Roberts called an “old school” pitcher’s duel. Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Mets starter each yielded only one run apiece, both in the first inning.

Yamamoto retired 20 straight after surrendering a leadoff home run to Francisco Lindor. And he came back out in the eighth, with right-hander Blake Treinen and Vesia preparing for the call.

When Yamamoto allowed back-to-back two-out singles, just his third and fourth hits allowed, Roberts brought in Treinen to face Luis Robert Jr. Treinen struck out Robert on a sweeper that caught the bottom of the strike zone and withstood an ABS challenge.

“Not having [closer Edwin Díaz] available, I felt very confident to use Blake to get out of that inning, to get Robert,” Roberts said, “and to have Vesia take on some righties in a close situation.”

Díaz hadn’t pitched since last Friday, when he didn’t feel quite right and his velocity dropped during a blown save. Though he insisted over the weekend that he felt good physically, the Dodgers proceeded with caution.

Because of the time off, Roberts said, the training and coaching staff wanted Díaz to throw a bullpen Tuesday before returning to game action. As long as he responds well, Roberts said, Díaz will be “ready to go” Wednesday in the series finale.

Kyle Tucker singles in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning Tuesday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

On Tuesday, a clutch swing from Kyle Tucker in the bottom of the eighth created a save situation with Díaz down.

With runners on first and second, Tucker fell behind in the count against Mets left-handed reliever Brooks Raley. Then, shaking off his slow offensive start to the season, Tucker sent a 1-and-2 cutter into shallow left field.

“He’s going through it right now,” Roberts said. “But for him to stick his nose in there against Raley and find a way … to just flare a ball to get a game-winning hit, he helped us win a baseball game.”

Then it was Vesia’s time.

The heart of the order was coming up for the Mets: Jorge Polanco, Bo Bichette and Francisco Alvarez.

“Doc trusting me to get those three hitters out, those are no-joke hitters right there,” Vesia said. “So I definitely knew I needed to be on my game.”

A top-rail fastball got him a called first strike against Polanco. Then Vesia, who mostly throws fastballs and sliders, got Polanco to whiff on an outside changeup.

“I think even Will [Smith] and I surprised each other with the changeup that I threw,” Vesia said.

He went above the zone with a fastball, and Polanco chased it to complete a three-pitch strikeout.

Vesia then only needed four pitches to strike out Bichette on a slider in the dirt. Three straight sliders to Alvarez finished the job.

Vesia hopped and fist-pumped as the Dodgers (13-4) formed their handshake line. He met SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson outside of the dugout for the on-field interview and choked back tears after waving to the Cedars-Sinai suite.

“That’s what I do it for, man,” he said later in the clubhouse. “I wear my heart on my sleeve when I’m out there. So I was pretty fired up to be put in that spot.”

April 14 (UPI) — Police shot and killed a woman at an Omaha Walmart after she allegedly slashed a 3-year-old with a knife in a kidnapping attempt, law enforcement said Tuesday.

When officers arrived at the scene around 9:20 a.m. CDT, they found a woman outside the store “holding a knife to a 3-year-old child that was in a shopping cart,” Omaha Deputy Police Chief Scott Gray said at a news conference.

“The officers gave the suspect commands,” he said. “There is video that shows the suspect swiping the knife at the child, cutting him across the face. Officers at that time, at least one officer, fired their weapon, and the suspect is deceased at this scene.”

Police have not released the suspect’s identity. No officers were injured, the police department said on X.

The child was taken to a hospital with a large cut on his face and hand, but he is expected to recover.

The caretaker and child didn’t know the suspect, police said. The woman approached the caretaker and showed the knife. She gave the caretaker commands to walk in front of the shopping cart, so the three of them walked into the lot.

Gray said investigators don’t know why the woman approached the caretaker and child. Police believe she stole the knife from the store.

“Violence like this is unacceptable,” a Walmart representative told KETV-TV in Omaha. “We’re working with police and supporting them in their investigation.”

Officials said there was no threat to the public.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said a Sudanese man was detained on suspicion of ‘endangering another during a journey by sea to the UK’.

British police have arrested a Sudanese man on suspicion of “endangering another” person after four people died while trying to cross the English Channel from France.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Friday that a 27-year-old man, who remains unnamed, was detained at a migrant processing centre in Manston, southern England.

According to an NCA statement, the suspect was arrested on suspicion of “endangering another during a journey by sea to the UK” under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act.

The arrest comes a day after two men and two women were swept away by the current after trying to board a small boat with dozens of others off the coast of Saint-Etienne-au-Mont, near Calais in northern France, on Thursday.

So-called water-taxis are inflatable boats that cruise along the coastline picking up migrants and refugees who wade into shallow waters to climb on board, in a method to avoid security forces from stopping the boats from launching.

Last week, two men, one Sudanese and the other Afghan, died trying to make a similar crossing in the first reported deaths in the Channel this year.

The NCA said the suspect was being held and interviewed by officers who are also speaking to those who made the journey, which included 74 people, of whom 38 were returned to France.

The statement added that there was an ongoing investigation into the circumstances of the deaths of the four people and the launch of the boat, led by French prosecutors.

NCA Deputy Director Craig Turner said the agency would work with “colleagues at home and abroad” to do “all we can to identify and bring to justice those responsible for these four tragic deaths”.

The minister for migration and citizenship, Mike Tapp, said law enforcement teams would continue to prevent these “perilous journeys and bring those responsible to justice”, adding that every death in the Channel was a “tragedy”.

“Through our Border Security Act, officers now have stronger powers to act earlier and disrupt, intercept and take down the operations of criminal smuggling gangs who bring illegal migrants to our shores,” he said.

SARAH Beeny is revamping her failing dating app in a last-ditch attempt to turn around its fortunes.

She’s launching the “world’s first” video dating app – and is looking for singletons to find love in a bold new move.

Sarah might have the Midas touch when it comes to flogging houses, but didn’t have quite so much luck wielding Cupid’s bow and arrow.

The telly star and property guru runs a dating website called My Single Friend and it is heavily in debt.

Now she’s revealed that the site will be overhauled.

She said on Instagram: “I have to admit, I’m so excited because I’m going to relaunch My Single Friend as the world’s first video dating app and it’s coming next week and I can’t wait.

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“But as we are launching completely empty, I’m looking for the first 50 people who would like to be on the app when we launch, so if you have a single friend you’d like to pop on or are single yourself, send me a DM.”

The most recent figures show it didn’t make a penny in a year, plus singletons looking for love have been less than kind in online reviews of the firm.

Books posted on Companies House showed that for 2023 the firm had zero equity and it didn’t pay a penny in Corporation Tax, meaning it didn’t make enough cash on which to be taxed. It also owed £1.5m.

The firm was founded in 2004.

A review on Trustpilot read: “The matches they offer up have nothing to do with my search criteria, I suspect there aren’t many people signed up on my area. Customer service good though.”

Another person added: “Most profiles are inactive. Some profiles appear twice under different IDS The quality of the individuals is questionable… most guys over 50 look like bald spuds and send d**k pics.”

My Single Friend told would-be members: “Our clever two-way matching system can help you find your perfect match; our highly-rated and super-lovely customer service team is on-hand every day.

“Fall in love with love again. We can’t wait to help you take the first step.”

Household name Sarah — who beatbreast cancer in 2023 — shot to fame fronting Property Ladder in 2001 before going on to front a host of property shows on TV.

The home of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ son Christian “King” Combs and his girlfriend, Raven Tracy, was the target of what police said was a burglary attempt Thursday morning.

The pair were in Bali when police were summoned to their Porter Ranch home Thursday morning, according to a source familiar with the incident. Neighbors called police around 12:45 a.m. after they heard what they believed were shots fired in the 11900 block of Churchill Way in the affluent San Fernando Valley neighborhood. According to law enforcement, the commotion was actually a window being smashed near the rear patio of the $3-million residence.

King Combs, the 27-year-old rapper, model and son of disgraced music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, lives at the 5,400-square-foot property with Tracy, a 32-year-old influencer and fashion entrepreneur.

Images of at least two people were captured on security cameras, a law enforcement source told The Times. It’s unclear whether Combs and Tracy were targeted, or if the suspects were casing homes in the area. When police arrived, all suspects had fled the area. Police investigators told Fox 11 that nothing was stolen.

A source close to Combs told The Times that this was the second recent break-in attempt at the property. The first occurred during Sean “Diddy” Combs’ trial in the summer.

The attempted break-in is the most recent in a string of high-profile home invasions, although it is unclear whether the incidents are related. Earlier this month, “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Rachel Zoe’s Bel-Air mansion was broken into while she was out of town.

The reality TV personality and fashion designer was in Las Vegas for the opening of the Wynn’s ultra-exclusive social club Zero Bond. Zoe is a close friend of club founder Scott Sartiano.

According to TMZ, Zoe’s alarm company received an activation alert and swiftly called local police. Officers responded and spotted two male suspects leaving the property, one of whom the outlet said was taken into custody.

In August, “All Night Long” crooner Lionel Richie was home when a man broke into his Beverly Hills residence around midnight. According to NBC4 Investigates, police responded to a 911 call and searched the neighborhood, finding a suspect blocks away. A 38-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of residential burglary.

Law enforcement sources told the outlet that security cameras at Richie’s home picked up images of the suspect, who entered the home but was spooked by an alarm.