A federal judge personally apologized to the man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump during a hearing Monday, saying his jail conditions were worse than those of the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters.
Judge Zia Faruqui made these statements during a hearing on the conditions of detention of Cole Tomas Allen, 31, accused of attempting to assassinate Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25, 2026.
“I am very concerned by what the conditions you have been subjected to indicate,” Judge Zia Faruqui told Allen in court, adding: “I am sorry. It seems that things have not been as they are supposed to be.”
Allen’s public defenders alleged that their client was placed in a padded cell with constant lighting, kept locked up 24 hours a day, and completely restrained using a five-point shackle system.
Judge Faruqui said he had handled dozens of defendants from January 6 and none of them were treated that way.
He concluded the hearing by ordering the jail to notify him once a housing decision had been made. He also ordered that Allen be given the Bible he had requested.
A jail representative said Allen was briefly placed on suicide watch following an evaluation by a doctor. He said final decisions on housing had not yet been made.
Prosecutors said Allen told the FBI after his arrest that he did not expect to survive the incident. “It is clear that he did not expect to survive, which raises potential concerns about suicide,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Ballantine said in court.
Allen, a professor and engineer from Torrance, California, stormed a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton with a 12-gauge shotgun. A Secret Service officer wearing a bulletproof vest was hit in the chest. Allen was shot but not hit and was arrested at the scene.
Allen faces charges including attempted assassination of the president, which carries a penalty of up to life in prison. He is being held in a Washington, DC jail awaiting trial.
