At the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last week, lawyers for the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump argued that he was being unnecessarily placed on suicide precautions and deprived of his dignity and resources.
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In a motion filed Saturday, Cole Thomas Allen’s attorney asked that the suicide restriction be lifted while he awaits further hearings in the case, calling it “humiliating.”
Allen’s lawyers said in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that because Allen “does not exhibit signs of suicidal tendencies,” placing him on suicide watch and suicide prevention constitutes a violation of his rights under the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
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Officials said Allen was carrying a knife and multiple guns when he sprinted through the security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton Hotel, where an event was being held on April 25.
Allen, 31, fell to the ground and was taken into custody, officials said.
His attorneys argued in their motion that Mr. Allen has been placed on varying levels of suicide watch at various times since his arrest that night.
As of Friday, he was placed on suicide prevention measures, which are less strict than suicide watch, despite a nurse’s recommendation the same day that the designation be lifted, according to the motion.
At one point, Allen was held in a “secure cell,” which is “a padded room with constant lighting and 24-hour lockdown procedures, including the requirement that residents wear a vest similar to a straitjacket, undergo strip searches upon entry and exit, and may not leave the cell except for legal or medical visits,” a footnote in the filing said.
The restrictions prevented Allen from contacting anyone other than his defense team and from accessing resources such as the commissary and jail pills, the filing said. His lawyer wrote that he believed he was also unable to review the legal papers left with him.
The motion, signed by defense attorneys AJ Kramer, Tejira Abe and Eugene Ohm, states that while Allen’s lawyers do not believe he has a “expressed intent to punish,” his “taking steps to prevent suicide merits punishment.”
Kramer did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The Justice Department has not responded to the complaint, according to court records. A spokesperson for the D.C. Department of Corrections, which operates the facility where Allen is being held, did not respond to a request for comment.
Allen, a California teacher, is charged with attempting to assassinate the president, transporting a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
A judge this week ordered him to remain in custody until the case progresses. Mr. Allen has not entered a plea.
Video released this week by the Department of Justice shows a man identified as Allen running through a security checkpoint. It also depicts the suspect shooting and killing a Secret Service agent, said Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Prosecutors said Allen said in a written statement that he intended to target members of the Trump administration, from the highest ranks to the lowest.
The scramble to protect the president and bring in top officials, including first lady Melania Trump, the president’s cabinet and several members of Congress, broke out during a dinner party in the hotel’s ballroom. That night’s event was canceled.
