2026.5.1 CNN video analysis: Gunman raised shotgun as he stormed security at press dinner
A federal judge privately admonished prosecutors for attempting to grandstand Thursday at a detention hearing for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner gunman, according to a transcript first obtained by CNN.
“I don’t know what’s going on here. I know that you want to present your case, I guess, to some audience other than the Court,” Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya told three prosecutors in the courtroom on Thursday out of earshot of the public and press. “I don’t want this to turn into a circus.”
Upadhyaya’s comments highlight a dynamic that has arisen in the six days since Cole Tomas Allen allegedly tried storming the press dinner, with Trump administration officials aggressively describing their theory of the alleged attempted assassination of the president — the third in two years — in news interviews and unsolicited court filings.
Several times, DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro and others in television interviews have gone much further and given more definitive descriptions of the shooting than the detail that’s been represented in court from the FBI and Justice Department line prosecutors. They’ve also emphasized the law enforcement response as a success.
A CNN analysis of hotel surveillance video released by the DC US Attorney’s Office on Thursday, coupled with audio taken from inside the ballroom during the shooting, does not definitively conclude when or if Allen fired a shot. But the audio analysis does indicate that six shots total were fired during the incident, which aligns with initial statements by law enforcement that Allen fired one shot, while a responding officer fired five more.
Secret Service Director Sean M. Curran on Thursday said Allen shot an officer at point-blank range. Pirro said Thursday on Fox News that he fired at the Secret Service officer.
Court filings describing the events have been less definitive, and in some cases have contradicted the initial claims from top administration officials.
The latest available court filing describing what happened reads: “A USSS officer observed the defendant fire the shotgun in the direction of the stairs leading down to the ballroom.”
While Allen faces an initial charge of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, his charges could expand or be changed as a grand jury investigation progresses toward an indictment.
The investigation into the shooting remains in its early stages, the Justice Department has said repeatedly. The Justice Department didn’t respond to specific questions related to the video evidence released Thursday.
Questions about Allen’s intent as he ran toward the ballroom Saturday night are likely to linger over his legal case, and the Justice Department’s initial representations could become more important in court proceedings down the road.
His defense attorneys have already attempted in court filings to sew doubt about whether Allen intended to commit a mass shooting.
CNN video analysis
CNN’s analysis of video of the Saturday incident does, however, provide more insights into how the shooting unfolded at the event and raises questions about whether the officers were at an appropriate posture when the gunman entered the space.
In the video, Allen is seen entering a door about 35 feet away from where law enforcement officers were breaking down the magnetometers, one level above the ballroom where the dinner was taking place. The door Allen entered led to an elevator bank.
Inside the ballroom, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, several Cabinet officials and thousands of attendees were being served the first course of the dinner.
The video shows a law enforcement K9 and its handler looking inside the door that Allen, who was wearing a long coat that prosecutors say he hid his shotgun under then discarded, entered. The dog briefly enters the door, though it remains unclear what exactly they saw.
Next, the video shows Allen coming back through the door and sprinting toward a group of several law enforcement officers at the security checkpoint.
The officers were in the process of breaking down the magnetometers at the time. One officer, a uniformed member of the Secret Service, appears to notice Allen several seconds before the others.
That officer, who was standing on Allen’s right, near two more members of law enforcement, drew his pistol and aimed it toward Allen. Almost instantaneously, Allen ran through a remaining magnetometer and leveled his shotgun at that Secret Service officer.
The video shows dust near a ceiling light becoming unsettled as Allen levels his shotgun at officers, but before a muzzle flash — a visual light emitting from the barrel of a gun which indicates it has been fired — is seen from a responding Secret Service officer who first noticed Allen.
That dust could have been dislodged by a shot from Allen’s shotgun, even if a muzzle flash from the gun is not visibly apparent due to the quality of the video. Six shots are heard on the audio taken from the ballroom in total, according to Robert Maher, an audio forensic expert at Montana State University, who reviewed the audio for CNN.
It took Allen less than three seconds from the point where he reemerged from the door leading to the elevator bank to when he was through the magnetometer.
The video clearly shows four muzzle flashes from the Secret Service officer who initially noticed Allen. Other members of law enforcement and the Transportation Security Administration, who assisted with security screening at the dinner, appear to react to those gunshots.
As officers rush to restrain Allen, two small objects — apparently knives that law enforcement says he was carrying with him at the time — can be seen sliding back into the frame from the direction which Allen ran.
Law enforcement has said that the officer who fired the shots toward Allen was struck by gunfire in his protective vest. Specifically, a letter the Justice Department sent to Allen’s attorneys on Wednesday says, “at least one fragment was recovered from the crime scene that was physically consistent with a single buckshot pellet,” noting it backs up the Justice Department’s belief he fired at the agent.
Allen’s defense team is still questioning, however, whether Allen actually fired his shotgun — loaded with buckshot that would have sprayed a heavy blast — to hit the agent, according to a letter they wrote to the prosecutors on Wednesday.
Early public statements
Despite limited early information, top Trump administration officials rushed to provide a more definitive account of the incident than the available evidence has so far shown.
Shortly after the shooting, Blanche said Allen was “promptly tackled and detained by law enforcement,” only to be contradicted by prosecutors who said Allen “fell to the ground.” Pirro has said the agent wasn’t hit by friendly fire.
Another photo Pirro’s office released on Thursday shows Allen’s shotgun lying at the bottom of a landing in the stairs to the ballroom, a half floor down from where he was running. In that photo, it is marked with an evidence flag.
At the hearing on Thursday, prosecutors were prepared in court to show the new video and photos they had of the shooting, Allen’s weapons and of the hotel crime scene. Upadhyaya stopped them from doing this in court, because it was not needed after Allen’s lawyers said he agreed to remain detained while he awaited trial, she ruled.
Appearing annoyed, the judge then called the prosecutors and defense team to the bench to speak with them privately, where the judge continued to call out the Justice Department’s approach.
The court released a transcript of the exchange after the hearing following a request to the judge from CNN.
Serving as the backdrop to the admonishment is the political circumstances that some of these officials find themselves in as Trump has signaled an increased openness to replace those — like former Attorney General Pam Bondi — whom he believes do not react quickly and publicly enough to sensitive investigations.
The exchange also highlights how early and incomplete the investigation still is.
“We’re five days into this investigation,” prosecutor Jocelyn Ballantine responded to the judge, according to the transcript. “As soon as we have finalized reports and discovery” — meaning evidence that the defense team can review — “that we’re in a position to be able to accurately provide to counsel, we will be doing that. We take our discovery obligations seriously.”
Ballantine then says the US Attorney’s Office wasn’t ready to discuss in open court the documents they have so far from the investigation.
Following the hearing, the US Attorney’s Office put into the court record and posted on social media the videos and photos they had prepared.
They said, in a letter to the judge, the Justice Department “now formally completes the record.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — An 18-year-old Kentucky man who led police on a high-speed chase Thursday night has been charged by federal investigators in a bank robbery that left two people dead.
Brailen Weaver is charged with armed bank robbery and firearms offenses that caused death, according to federal court records.
Weaver entered a branch of U.S. Bank in Berea on Thursday, just before 2 p.m. and “immediately shot and killed a male victim” and then fatally shot a teller, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court Friday. He checked multiple drawers in the bank and then fled, the affidavit said. Investigators have not said if any money was taken from the bank.
“While there is no longer imminent danger, we understand that the tragedy is far from over for the community,” Olivia Olson, special agent in charge of the Louisville FBI office, said at a news conference Friday. “The only solace that we can offer is that this individual, who valued a stolen dollar more than two human lives, will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman announced Friday he would pursue state murder charges against Weaver. Court records say Weaver is 18, and officials said Friday he lived somewhere in Kentucky.
Authorities identified a silver BMW sedan on surveillance video and matched it to a car for sale by Weaver on Facebook, the affidavit said. Investigators were also able to match clothing on the suspect to photos of Weaver on social media. Investigators said Weaver continued to post on social media after the robbery.
The FBI located Weaver’s car on I-75, and he was pursued at speeds over 100 mph (161 kph) Thursday night. He exited the highway into Lexington, where he exceeded speeds of 130 mph (209 kph) before crashing the car and fleeing on foot, the affidavit said.
Kentucky State Police Officer Justin Kearney said in a social media post Friday that a “person of interest believed to be involved in yesterday’s Berea bank robbery has been apprehended.”
The affidavit was written before he was captured so it makes no mention of an arrest.
Rawl Kazee, a Lexington attorney identified in court records as representation for Weaver, did not immediately return a phone message later Friday morning.
Jason Parman, first assistant U.S. attorney for the eastern half of Kentucky, said in his 18 years as a prosecutor, he could not recall a death related to a bank robbery. Parman said it’s not uncommon for a bank robber to be armed and to threaten violence, but deaths are uncommon in his experience.
Bank robberies nationally have declined from 5,546 in 2010 to 1,263 in 2023, a decrease of 77%, according to the FBI’s annual Bank Crime Statistics report. There were no deaths associated with bank robberies in 2022 and 2023, the most recent year available for the data.
Tom Myers, a crime historian and retired FBI agent, said the drop in bank robberies is due to experienced criminals opting to move on to easier crimes that don’t come with the risk of a lengthy federal prison sentence. Bank security technology has also evolved rapidly, he said, and tiny, powerful tracking devices can make it easier to find stolen money bundles once a robber has left the bank.
“The juice ain’t worth the squeeze,” Myers said. “There’s so many other things to do that are profitable — you can go to a big box store and walk out with the same amount in some places, and only face state charges if you’re caught.”
Law enforcement officials went door to door in search of information and surveillance video, as well as using helicopters, drones and dogs. The Lexington Police Department and county sheriff’s offices took part in the search, along with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Area schools went into lockdown for a while Thursday until campuses were deemed safe. Students were not allowed to go home on buses and had to be picked up by their parents, state police said.
U.S. Bank said it was working closely with law enforcement and committed to supporting the victims’ families and bank colleagues. The small bank branch in the quiet community of Berea is located just a mile from Berea College and its campus that dates back to the 1850s.
“We’re deeply saddened by the tragic event that took the lives of two of our employees at our Berea, Kentucky branch earlier today,” the company said in a statement Thursday. “Our hearts go out to the families of the victims, our colleagues and the entire Berea community.”
Berea is about 36 miles (58 kilometers) south of Lexington.
NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein ‘s accuser struggled on the witness stand at his rape retrial Thursday after being confronted with a previously undisclosed, soul-searching note she wrote to herself two days after the alleged assault in 2013. Court ended early for the day.
Jessica Mann straightforwardly answered questions about the missive, in which she described becoming “emotionally attached” to someone and wanting a loving partnership. Weinstein’s defense pointed out that she wrote nothing about having allegedly been raped.
Court wrapped up for the day, about 45 minutes earlier than planned. Mann is due back Friday for a fifth day.
Thursday’s early end came after questions turned to the alleged assault in a Manhattan hotel room, and Mann said she was feeling “spacey” from the difficulty of testifying. The court took a break, but soon after Mann returned, she said she felt “dissociated” and sensed she wasn’t hearing properly because of stress. The 40-year-old later told the judge she hadn’t gotten much sleep.
It’s the third time Mann has testified against Weinstein, 73. He was initially convicted in 2020, but an appeals court overturned that verdict for reasons unrelated to her testimony. The jury at his first retrial, last year, didn’t decide the rape charge.
Mann, a hairstylist and actor, has acknowledged the two had a consensual, on-again-off-again sexual relationship. She alleges it degenerated into rape in New York in March 2013 and again some months later in Beverly Hills, California. Weinstein has never been charged with any crime related to the California allegation.
“He just treated me like he owned me,” Mann told jurors this week.
Weinstein’s lawyers maintain that everything that happened between the two was consensual and part of a supportive, caring relationship. They say Mann benefited from associating with an Oscar-winning producer, only later accusing him after allegations about him powered the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct. He denies sexually assaulting anyone.
The sketchy, journal-like note that came up in court Thursday was written on March 20, 2013. Mann had just returned to her Los Angeles home from New York, where she says Weinstein forced himself on her. She had gone on to see him socially, at one point marking his March 19 birthday by having tea with him and his daughter.
In the missive, Mann mused about budding feelings of attachment in a nonexclusive relationship with a man she didn’t name. She reflected on how she wanted a mutual and loving relationship and said her feelings toward the unnamed man were creating inner conflict for her. She talked about questioning the “woulds and would nots” she had set for herself.
After describing fears of rejection, and being a “‘bad’ person,” she appealed for God’s guidance.
“I know that I was struggling with some of the decisions I was making that were different than what I was raised with,” Mann explained in court, adding that there was “a lot going on at this time in my life.”
Emphasizing a passage about seeking love and freedom, she testified that “I was feeling very controlled.”
Through questions, Weinstein attorney Teny Geragos suggested that the note reflected Mann’s feelings about being involved with the then-married Weinstein.
It’s been clear through three trials that those feelings were complicated.
Mann testified Wednesday that despite the alleged rape, she loved “a part of him” because Weinstein could be kind and encouraging about her personal struggles and professional dreams, and that the two had “some pretty human moments” together.
“What did he do for you that made parts of you really love him?” Geragos asked.
“It was the validation,” Mann said.
When Geragos went on to ask about the “human moments,” Mann said she once slapped Weinstein, thinking he was inviting it as sex play, but that he later told her, “Jess, that’s not you.”
“So when you were talking about the validation that you received … and the human moments that you shared with Harvey, it was that you slapped him?” Geragos asked.
Mann said she instead was referring to his remark that “that’s not you.”
Mann and Weinstein met at a Los Angeles-area party around early 2013. At the time, she was a financially struggling but aspiring to make it big in show business.
The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they agree to be named, as Mann has done.
2026.5.1 How investigators say the killings of two University of South Florida students unfolded
As the suspect accused of killing two doctoral students in Florida faces murder charges, authorities have laid out disturbing and grisly details surrounding the students’ disappearance.
Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27 and originally from Bangladesh, were last seen nearly two weeks ago in Tampa. Limon’s body was found a week later. Two days after that, Bristy’s heavily decomposed remains were found.
Hisham Abugharbieh, Limon’s roommate, has been charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder with a weapon in the deaths of the students. A judge ruled Tuesday he will remain in detention as he awaits trial.
In a motion prosecutors filed last week to keep Abugharbieh, 26, in jail while he faces the charges, they laid out a detailed timeline of how investigators think the two University of South Florida students may have died as well as their and the suspect’s actions around the time they went missing.
Here’s a look at what they say unfolded.
Police say Xin Tong, 31, was found with chemicals commonly used to manufacture methamphetamine
A suspect was arrested after allegedly running a secret meth lab at Michigan State University’s Wells Hall, the institution’s largest academic building.
Xin Tong, 31, is facing felony charges in connection with the alleged operation, as well as misdemeanor trespassing, according to police.
Officers responded earlier this week to Wells Hall over reports of a suspicious person, a strong odor and unknown substances on the floor, WILX reported. Officers found Tong and confirmed his identity by using his expired MSU student ID.
Tong was in possession of multiple bags, which officers later searched through after obtaining a search warrant, discovering several bottles containing substances commonly used in the manufacture of meth, according to the outlet.
“The chemicals include sodium hydroxide pellets, hydrochloric acid, methanol, isopropyl alcohol, acetone, and butane. Multiple tests performed by the Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) confirm the environment in Wells Hall does not pose a risk to our community,” MSU police said.
Officials later clarified that a meth lab was never located inside Wells Hall.
“The suspect was found in possession of chemicals and/or equipment that could be used in the production of methamphetamine, which were contained within his personal property,” police said.
Tong allegedly caused significant damage to the doors, flooring, and fixtures in Wells Hall between April 10 and April 26.
He has been charged with trespassing, malicious destruction of a building over $20,000 and felony controlled substance-operate/maintain lab involving methamphetamine.
Wells Hall was evacuated on Monday, and it remained closed through Friday “out of an abundance of caution,” the university said in a press release, adding that there “continues to be no known threat to the campus community.”
Tong is being held at the Ingham County Jail on a $500,000 bond. The Department of Homeland Security also reportedly placed a hold on his bond.
Several arrests were made Friday during escalating May Day protests in downtown Los Angeles, as agitators blocked traffic and confronted officers near a federal building, the Los Angeles Police Department reported.
LAPD issued an emergency alert around 3 p.m. as protesters shut down two southbound lanes on Alameda Street between Temple and Aliso streets, leaving just one lane open.
An unlawful assembly was declared by authorities, bringing traffic to a crawl.
Police told The California Post they were dealing with a large, “unruly” group.
Agitators hurled vulgar and hostile language at officers, including the chant “F–K DHS!” as tensions escalated.
Demonstrators lined sidewalks and repeatedly moved into the street with megaphones, at times stopping vehicles.
Some waved Palestinian flags, while others wore hoods and masks, chanting “ICE out of LA” in opposition to federal immigration enforcement.
The disruption came as part of a broader May Day mobilization expected to draw thousands of workers, union members and activists across the city.
Organizers urged supporters to join an “economic blackout,” encouraging people to skip work, school and shopping.
The main rally was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at MacArthur Park, followed by a march to Grand Park after a speaking program.
Labor and immigrant rights groups said the demonstrations mark International Workers’ Day, with similar events planned across California calling for expanded worker protections and immigration reform.
Many signs carried by demonstrators featured anti-ICE messages, along with anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian slogans, as the protest shifted from an organized rally into a chaotic street scene.
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