Key insights
- The Justice Department added an assault charge against the suspect in the attempted assassination of President Trump. While a serious event, the isolated nature of the crime and its limited economic implications suggest a slightly negative but ultimately negligible influence on US equity markets.
WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday added a charge of assault on a federal officer with a deadly weapon to the case against the man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton last month.
The new charge, which formally accuses the suspect, Cole Allen, of firing at a U.S. Secret Service agent at a security checkpoint, is part of a new four-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Washington. The other three counts are charges Allen previously faced including attempted assassination, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence and illegal transportation of a firearm and ammunition across state lines.
Prosecutors allege that Allen, 31, of California, was armed with a shotgun and a pistol when he sprinted past security in an attempt to assassinate Trump and other U.S. officials on April 25.