The Justice Department has released a selfie and court filings tied to the alleged attempted assassination at the White House Correspondents’ dinner, asserting the suspect traveled with clear intent to kill the President and seeking to keep him detained pending trial.

Dressed to Kill: DOJ Releases Chilling Selfie of Accused WHCD Shooter in Bid to Keep Him Behind Bars

Thirty-one-year-old Cole Allen, identified as the suspect in the attempted assassination at the White House Correspondents’ dinner, is the focus of a federal filing that paints a disturbing picture of premeditation. The documents and the images connected to them are being used to argue for detention without release until trial.

The filing says Allen either expected to die or expected to spend the rest of his life in custody, given the level of evidence he allegedly left behind. Prosecutors say the evidence includes a written manifesto and a photograph taken in his hotel room that shows him suited up for violence.

The Department of Justice submitted the photograph to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia as part of its detention memorandum. According to the filing, the image shows Allen preparing with items consistent with weapons and tools later recovered from him.

“At approximately 8:03 p.m., while back inside his hotel room, the defendant used his cellphone to take a photograph of himself in the mirror,” the filing states, explaining that Allen “appeared to be wearing a small leather bag consistent in appearance with the ammunition-filled bag later recovered from his person (item 1), a shoulder holster (item 2), a sheathed knife consistent in appearance with one of the knives later recovered from his person (item 3), and pliers and wire cutters consistent in appearance with those later recovered from his person (item 4).”

The filing asserts that Allen was seeking to kill President Donald Trump.

Federal prosecutors argue that the photo and the surrounding facts show an unmistakable intent to kill and to carry out a mass attack. Their motion stresses that Allen came to Washington prepared to commit extreme violence and that the risk to the public is too great to allow release.

The government framed the planned attack as “a planned attack of unfathomable malice,” a phrase used in the filing to underline the severity of the alleged plot and the potential consequences if it had succeeded. Prosecutors contend that no set of release conditions could reasonably protect the community.

“Had the defendant achieved his intended outcome, he would have brought about one of the darkest days in American history. The defendant traveled across the country with the explicit aim to kill the President of the United States,” the document declares, describing the effort as “a planned attack of unfathomable malice.”

The Justice Department strongly argued that the suspect should not be released pending trial.

“The facts and circumstances in this case compel the conclusion that there is no condition or combination of conditions that would reasonably assure the community’s safety if the defendant were released pending trial,” the filing asserts.

Those lines from the filing are stark and direct: prosecutors are asking the court to lock down the case and prevent any chance of the suspect walking free before a verdict. In the federal system, the standard for pretrial detention is high, and prosecutors are clearly saying the facts meet that standard.

Legal penalties for attempted assassination and related federal charges are severe, and the prospect of life imprisonment is on the table. The filings emphasize that the maximum penalty in such a case can be life in prison, underscoring the gravity of the alleged acts.

We live in a time when political violence has to be treated as the threat it is, and those who plan it must face the strongest response the law allows. This case shows federal prosecutors moving quickly to use the tools available to keep the public safe and to bring a clear-eyed focus to the legal process.

Jeanine Pirro, as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, will oversee the prosecution, which will proceed through arraignment, motions, and, if necessary, trial. The court will weigh the government’s detention request against any defense arguments in the days ahead.

Editor’s Note: The American people overwhelmingly support President Trump’s law and order agenda.